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Vol. IV. No. 1 


Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. 


January 7, 1922 


FABRIC A AT HEADQUARTERS HELPS 2500 

From 170 workers last May, when the Industrial Depart- 
ment at Headquarters was reorganized, to 660 in December 
is the stride made in this important phase of relief work. All 
the workers are refugees. 

2500 dependents share in this opportunity for economic 
independence. There are Russian women supporting hus- 
bands who tramp the crowded streets day in and day out in 
a fruitless search for work, Armenian widows with four or 
five clamorous children to support, young Greek mothers 
whose husbands are at the front, Syrian refugees trying to 
help the family budget so that one day they may leave this 
land of sorrow and strife for that wonderful America, closely 
veiled Turkish "hanoums,” Jews, who have fled persecution, 
sweet faced Albanians, even Polish, French and German 
women, who in the swift turning of the wheel of fortune in 
the Near East find themselves among the penniless and 
friendless in this smiling Queen of Cities, where below the 
rouged surface thousands cf teeming refugees sec her only 
as a heartless jade. 

The waiting list of hopeful applicants for work is over 
550, yet until sales of some of this exquisite work made here 
are assured in America, the Industrial cannot be extended. 
Monthly "exams'' are held, and only those whose samples of 
work as done in the "classroom" are perfect, are placed on 
the waiting list. 

Native Products Sell Best 

All lace work has been stopped, as we cannot compete 
with equally fine work from the Philippines, which enters 
America duty free. Instead we are concentrating on native 
products. There is Aintab work on handkerchiefs and lunch- 
eon sets— drawn threads and the space filled in with charm- 
ing stitch designs. Suzanny work is typically Turkish, some- 
thing like punch work, but made with a larger needle. Rus- 
sian cross stitch, always in colors or else in white on dark 
backgrounds, is most effective on curtains, guest towels, 
bridge and luncheon sets. Russian Aintab in delicate designs 
makes handsome handkerchiefs. 

Then there is specialized work. An ex Russian officer, 
his tunic covered with decorations, brought in some exceed- 
ingly clever dolls with wonderfully lifelike faces one day 
There was an American sailor, a dashing Italian carabinieri 
with his Napoleon hat, a Turkish gendarme, waxed mustachio 
and all, a Georgian officer, gorgeous in red skirted coat, a 
native "hodja" (priest) in black flowing robe and green-bound 


fez to show he had make the pilgramage to Mecca, and a 
Turkish "hanoum" (lady) closely veiled. 

All are types seen every day on the streets of this cos- 
mopolitan city. These samples led to large orders, for the 
dolls sell rapidly. American sailors buy up the supply of 
"hanoums” before anyone else has a chance. 

Every Worker has a Story 

Many are the stories of lost relatives united, a family 
saved from acute want, and a "down-and-outer” started on 
the road to self respect by the N.E.R. Industrial. 

Two sisters, Armenians, Satenig and Araxi Garabedian 
who had not seen each other for years, glanced across the 
room where both were waiting to be accepted for work, star- 
ed incredulously, and with a cry were in each other's arms. 
Such talking, such laughing and crying, such typically 
Oriental babel has surely never been duplicated. 

Three Russians, artists, came in one day inquiring, 
“Do you give work only to women?" Miss Sheltman heard 
their story, and started them on a book plate for herself. It 
was so ' v 'e’l done that it led to hirfher orders, next came Christ- 
mas cards for Americans here and at the Embassy. Now 
these three artists have a cozy little atelier, and enough work 
to support themselves. 

Sirpouhi Harutunian, a diminutive girl of ten, came ask- 
ing work. She alone of the family was able to work, she as- 
sured us, as the rest were ill. Investigation led to one chiids 
being sent to our Yedi Koule Tubercular Hospital, medical 
treatment for the mother, and help for the entire family. 
Three from this family now earn Ltq. 12 a week at the In- 
dustrial, enough to keep them going and to send the smallest 
child to school. Araxi, by the way, is an excellent hem- 
stitcher. 

A sad faced Russian women, evidently a person of qual- 
ity "before the Revolution”, carrying her sick baby came to 
beg bread. Work, she said, was impossible, as the child re- 
quired constant care. The under-nourished baby was placed 
in a hospital from where it passed to a Happier Land. The 
mother, Tatiana Toiitanov, is our best worker. We call her 
"Golden Hands,” because her sensitive artistic fingers can do 
every type of work so perfectly. 

Marika Shukmoglou is an ambitious miss of 13. She 
supports her sick mother and wrinkled old grandmother, and 
in addition finds time to take English lessons at the Y.W.C. A. 

Sultana Finds Happiness 

Our mail clerk, Krikor, was so interested on hearing that 
girls in Turkish homes had unsightly blue designs tattooed on 


f 


,\ 


2 NEAR EAST RELIEF 


^heir faces, that he had to investigate. He saw Sultana An- 
davaloglou, a worker in the Fabrica, who became alarmed at 
his intense gaze. 

To quiet her, he fixed up a story of a letter which he be- 
lieved had arrived for her. Sultana had but one relative -a 
brother in America, from whom she had not heard for years. 

Hope again sang high in her, and she hastened to the 
N.E.R. post office for the long awaited letter. 

Poor Krikor to cover his confusion, and hoping the girl 
would not be too disappointed, shuffled through a pile of 
letters waiting to be returned to the senders in America as 
"unable to locate.” 

.What was his intense surprise to find "Sultana Anda- 
valoglou” on one of the letters. . It was indeed the long- 
hoped-for letter from America, and Sultana, the poor refugee, 
with her disfiguring tattooing to remind her of the days 
when she was virtually a prisoner, is now on the way to 
America and happiness. 


SUMMER CAMPS HAVE HELPED AN EMIC 
CHILDREN 

(From Letter of Mr. Theodore Elmer, Tiflis ) 

A special fund sent by members of the Congregational 
Church at Dalton, Mass., has met a big need the past sum- 
mer- the building up of weak and anaemic children. 

Among the thousands whom the N.E.R. feeds in dining- 
rooms, schools and soup kitchens in Tiflis, there are hun- 
dreds of children, anaemic, weak, tubercular and susceptible 
to diseases of all sorts owing to undernourishment. To 
prevent actual starvation of some, we can give but one meal 
a day to, all. In most cases this is the only meal these 

wretched refugess receive, and it is insufficient. 

With this special fund we therefore opened two child- 
ren’s summer camps in the beautiful mountain villages of 
Kadjory and Kikhity, not far from Tiflis. Here 400 of the 
weakest starvelings were given three and four meals of good, 
strengthening food a day, medical care, and plenty of fresh 
air and sunshine. 

Their four months stay wrought a transformation. They 
went to the camps pale, thin and sickly looking. They re- 
turned red-cheeked, robust and happy. They face a winter 
of hardship and of short rations, but with their renewed 
strength of last summer they are well equipt for the struggle. 


MOVIES FOR TRACHOMA ORPHANAGE 

The Y.M.C.A. has kindly arranged to give a monthly 
cinema program at the Trachoma Orphanage. The first bill, 
shown last Thursday, consisted of a comedy, scenes from 
Hawaii, a travelogue through American cities and a military 
review. The boys hailed each picture with delight. 


HOSPITAL WORK IN THE CAUCASUS DONE 
UNDER HUGE DIFFICULTIES 

(From a letter of Miss Elizabeth Thom, A. R. C., 
Polygon Hospital, Alexandropol) 

Every new crowd of orphans means an added burden to 
to the already over-crowded Caucasus Area hospitals. Most 
every child coming in has scabies, favus (a scalp disease) or 
trachoma (the dread eye disease) and some have all three. 
These diseases must be cured, and it keeps the hospitals busy 
as bees most of the time. However with the great essentials ; 
nourishing food, suitable bathing facilities, and a good 
laundry, which we now have here, we are sure to get results. 

A few months ago we had a high death rate. Now it is 
practically nil. The orphans are getting quite fat and rosy. 
Instead of standing apathetically against a wall in the sun, 
they are now active more normal boys. Conditions are 
greatly improved since a year ago. 

Then, on arrival, I was assigned as district nurse to look- 
after 4000 orphans here. Besides the hospital there was an 
orphanage infirmary with 500 children in terrible condition, 
bodies covered with vermin and sores. Each had to be 
treated as a surgical case. The weather was frightfully cold, 
and fires, owing to the scarcity of wood, were out of the 
question. Still the 500 were healed in five weeks. And then 
the N.E.R. had to evacuate Alexandropol ! 

Kars in Desperate Need 

My next post was at Kars, where we had 6000 orphans. 
Here we opened within four weeks a maternity ward, nursery, 
medical hospital and scabies hospital. This latter had been 
an old armoury, and was in tumble-down shape. Wood was 
scarce, water had to be carried from the river, and when the 
snow on the roof melted during the day, a small rain storm 
poured through an to our defenceless patients. It was dis- 
couraging, but we carried on for two months, when the 
newest government ordered us to evacuate all Armenian or- 
phans to Alexandropol. 

I was sent back to Alexandropol, now under Bolshevik 
rule, in May, and found the children had suffered greatly dur- 
ing the winter, owing to lack of nourishment. Many had 
developed enteritis with complications. The death rate was 
appalling. Even when supplies finally came in, many of the 
children were too far advanced to be benefited. 

Since then work has progressed very satisfactorily. We 
now have separate scabies, favus and trachoma hospitals. 
Every one of the 5000 boys has a weekly medical examina- 
tion. We have a fine drug room, excellent operating room, 
and an ambulatory, or outside dressing room, for orphanage 
cases which is kept busy all the time. 

The deep sympathy of her many friends in the Near East 
goes out to Miss Cushman in the loss of her mother, who 
died on December twenty-first, in Utica, N.Y. at the age of 
eighty-six. 


3 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 



SIFTING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF 

The mills of the Gods, which grind so exceedingly fine, 
have been duplicated in the Caucasus Area by the N.E.R. 
sifting process. 

In every one of the scores of villages where relief is car- 
ried on there is the same hungry, ill-kempt and often diseased 
crowd of pitiful little ragamuffins. From dawn until dark 
they roam the narrow, filthy gutters, which can hardly be 
•dignified by the name of streets, foraging for food. 

All are manifestly hungry, many are desperately so, and 
some of the thin, white-lipped, starey-eyed tots are obviously 
starving. Yet we cannot feed them all ! To sort them out, 
fairly and impartially, seems not only cruel but hopeless. 

A native "ojak” (stove) is quickly built of brick and mud, 
supplies arrive, and at once the soup-kitchen begins to oper- 
ate. One bowl of soup and a piece of bread is the portion 
per day to all who come. And every child in the village 
comes ! 

For two weeks things run smoothly, and the children 
show signs of improvement, then, fateful blow, it is an- 
nounced that no more supplies are on hand, and the soup 
kitchen must temporarily close. 

Consequently there is no soup the following day, but 
plenty of hungry children hovering round the kitchen, hop- 
ing that, in spite of all, there will be food. 

The next day it is the same. No food, but a disappointed 
crowd of pitifully hungry children. Heads are counted. 
Several score of the "regular pairons" are missing. These 
who are here now are undoubtedly the neediest. The others 
get food at home and can manage somehow. 

So, as the money has to be spread so very thinly, are 
the neediest separated from the "just poor.” Later, a sys- 
tematic investigation will be made, but for the first sorting 
out, this sifting method has been found effective. 

NEW SCUTARI ORPHANAGE OPENED 
JANUARY FIRST 

Orphanage Work in Constantinople has advanced be- 
yond the desperate stage of saving miserable mites found 
aimlessly wandering in the filthy streets, as in the Caucasus, 
but faces the equally important step of improving the origin- 
al, hastily provided accomodations for the children. 

The new Scutari orphanage (Armenian), which had its 
formal opening on January first, is the result of seeking bet- 
ter accomodations and health conditions for some 155 girl 
orphans at Courou Tcheshme, and 45 at Scutari. 

These orphans, none too robust, are now installed in an 
airy light building, with an ample garden. Fresh air, out- 
door games and a chance to express themselves in play will 
soon make these apathetic youngsters a happy, noisy lot of 
normal children. A resident interne is trying to improve 
health conditions. Trachoma, fortunately, has been wiped 
•out. 


The orphanage building had been occupied by refugees, 
but little trace of their destructive occupancy remains. Win- 
dow panes have been put in, floors and stairways repaired, 
walls whitewashed several times, and the building disinfected. 

All the children attend local schools, and ten of them 
have been taken as free day pupils at Miss Kinney’s Amer- 
ican school just across the road. 

The directrice, Mine. Greenhagen of Copenhagen, after 
ten years service as a missionary in Harpoot,, is now working 
unselfishly here, turning back her monthly salary into the 
orphanage treasury. 


A FAMILY OF 7,000 

The 7000 N.E.R. orphans at Alexandropol, Caucasus, 
are such a big family that the daily routine must run with 
the precision of clock work, or somebody suffers. 

Think of 7000 baths a week - 1166 a day, six days a week. 
146 children an hour or 2V2 a minute pass through the show- 
ers." Over one case of soap daily goes for baths only. 

Allowing 18 inches of clothes line for each garment, the 
clean clothes needed after the bath, consisting of two pieces 
of underwear, a pair of stockings, blouse or dress, and a 
towel for each of the 1166 bathers requires a line 9000 feet 
long, nearly two miles. 

Meals have to be served in five relays, for there are 
neither enough dishes nor dining space to go round. How 
would you like to wash a mile and a half of dishes per day? 
Yet the plates and cups for this family of 7000 set side by 
side reach over 8100 feet. 

Mattresses for the family (if they all had them) and three 
blankets each (which we need in this biting cold climate, and 
hope to have some day) stretched end to end would reach 
from Baltimore to Washington, with enough blankets left to 
cover the dome of the capitol. 


EFKERE ORPHANAGE IN A MONASTERY 

(Extracts from a letter of Mr. H. H. Murphy, Talas Unit) 

Our big orphanage in Caeserea has just been moved out 
to Efkere, and I am out here four days a week doing orphan- 
age, industrial and general relief work. 

The building is a 1600 year old monastery -yon should 
see it. One enters through iron studded doors locked by 
massive cross bars. Monastery life must have been most in- 
teresting, walking around the huge courtyards or pacing up 
and down the many long arched corridors. Off the interior 
passage-ways are the monks cells, very tiny, very bare and 
very clammy. It all makes one feel ancient. 

The monks used to have big gardens here and a fine 
swimming pool, which still serves the purpose. There are 
many miles of subterranean passages and caves all through 
the hills that belong to the monastery, and it’s great fun to 
explore them all. There are huge stones that may be rolled 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


up to fill a narrow passage-way, so that no one can enter or 
leave. Qoesn't this sound fascinatingly mediaeval ? 

Our liative director is the “Vartabed”, next under the 
Georgian correspondent of the Catholic Pope, and he is a 
fine old chap. I eat one meal a day with him, and prepare 
the other two myself. 1 have gotten so that native food ap- 
peals tome. One certainly gets used to anything in the in- 
terior of Turkey. 

CHRISTMAS AT THE TKACH 031 A HOSPITAL 

(By Miss E. D. Cushman) 

It is safe to say that the majority of the 225 Greek and 
Armenian orphan boys at the Trachoma Hospital had never 
seen a Christmas tree, much less received a present. Our 
Christmas celebration therefore was the most wonderful spec- 
tacle that had ever dazzled their wide-open eyes. 

There was a tree, beautifully decorated. Green branches 
and vines from the garden decked the hall, and lanterns of 
bright colored paper made by the boys turned it into a 
fairy bower. 

We had songs, recitations, a dialogue, all in three lan- 
guages, a very good composition of thanks by a boy who had 
studied english but four months, remarkable gymnastics, and 
folk dancing. 

Then in came Santa, a huge white-bearded figure, blow- 
ing a horn. The smaller boys were dumbfounded ; they had 
never seen anything like it. Several Greek boys were over- 
heard saying, “It can’t be human ; it must be a machine.” 

Games, balls, marbles, toys were given as presents, and 
each youngster got a brimful Christmas stocking of popcorn, 
nuts and candy. 

Not to be outdone, the boys presented Miss Cushman 
and Miss Aiders with two lovely boquets, bought with care- 
fully hoarded piasters. Much credit should be given Miss 
Alders who planned the affair, and the boys themselves for 
their part in the program. 


WE WANT TO GO HOME ! 

Mr. jaquith tells an amusing story of four orphans at 
one of the Alexandropol orphanages. With all the polite 
overtures of the country they begged to see him. 

The request was granted and awkwardly they were 
ushered in. After standing on one foot then on the other, 
the spokesman, a sturdy open-faced lad, poured forth a vol- 
uble explanation to the interpreter. They hadn’t found or- 
phanage life what they had thought it would be, and please 
could they go home ? 

The quartet had beat its way to Alexandropol from one 
of the nearby villages, where tales of the wonderful American 
orphanages had reached them. They had told a plausible 
story, and until their cases could be thoroughly investigated 
had been taken in. 

After their unblushing request, they were hustled home, 
and four homeless youngsters from the long waiting, list im- 
mediately took their places. 


DIRECTOR OF CAUCASUS RRANCH 
DECORATED 

(. Extract from “ Hyastani Mishak” , “ Worker of Armenia'', 
dated November 20, 1921) 

The Americah Relief working in the Near East lately 
doubled its activity within the boundaries of Armenia. 

For instance, the Americans have started besides or- 
phanages, a school, a hospital and a sanatorium in Delijan etc. 

We are informed that the care of the refugees has been 
transferred to the Americans, because the government, owing 
to lack of funds, has been obliged to close its Refugee 
Bureau. 

This paper often gives information as to the activities of 
the N.E.R. Let us mention one of them. Mr. E. A. Yarrow, 
Managing Director of the Caucasus Branch, about a week 
ago was received by the Catholicos of all Armenians and 
heard words of gratefulness and encouragement. The Catho- 
licos has granted to him a special decoration. 

\ 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Hoelzle, Charles S. of Bergenfield, N. J. Three years 
Captain A.R.C. in France, Belgium, and Poland, as Chief 
Motor Transport Officer. Was present at the evacuation of 
Kieff, and went through many thrilling experiences. Previous 
to service in the A.R.C. engaged in construction work on the 
Maderia-Mamora Ry. in Brazil and Bolivia This is the sec- 
tion of South America through which ex-President Roosevelt- 
made his famous trip, exploring the River of Doubt. 

Merritt, Alfred D., of Tacoma. Washington State Col- 
lege. Sales and banking experience since college. It was 
at the Student Volunteer Convention held at Des Moines, 
Iowa in 1919 and attended by students from all over the 
world, that Mr. Merritt became so impressed with the work of 
the N.E.R. that he made a decision to come to the Near East 
to help. 


PERSON N E L N 0 T E S 

Mr. and Mrs. Louis Foley are the proud parents of a 
baby girl, Margaret, born at Beirut, Syria on December 8,. 
1921. 

Miss Mary Morton and Miss Grace Blackwell sailed on 
January 3rd for Beirut. They will spend a month's leave in 
Palestine and Egypt. 

Mrs. George White has undergone an operation at the 
Robert College Hospital. She is now, happily, convalescent. 

Capt. E. E. Eckman spent Christmas in Tiflis. 

Mr. Walter F.. Curt has left for Rodosto, Thrace, where 
he will replace Mr. Peter Prins as Director of the Unit. 


Prin:ed by H. MATTEOSIAN 
Bfble House, Constantinople 


— I — 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 2 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. January 14, 1922 


ADANA UNIT CARRYING ON ’MIDST CILICIAN 

EVACUATION 

(From Letters of Miss Nan O. Lowe, Acting-Director) 
November 16, and December 6 

All our teachers, cooks and other orphanage workers, 
our interpreter, buyer and warehouseman have deserted us. 
They left with a large share of the Christian population of 
Cilicia after the signing of the Franco-Turkish treaty early in 
November. 

Everything had been running smoothly until the first of 
November. We had re-rented our orphanage buildings, had 
a fine corps of teachers and workers, and were' looking for- 
ward to a very successful year. Our general relief work was 
well organized, and we were planning to decrease this as 
local factories opened up. 

Now two American women find themselves faced with the 
problem of looking after 467 Armenian orphans, and with 
the possibility of a huge relief program. Fortunately the 
American Mission personnel here have kindly offered to help, 
and are doing so unstintingly, or we should be swamped. 

We soon found it would be an impossibility to carry out 
our original plans for the orphanages, and so have moved 
the Girls' Orphanage into the American school, and the 
Boys' Orphanage to St. Paul’s College, Tarsus, where we 
have had over one hundred boys in industrial departments 
right along. This will solve the “help" problem for the pre- 
sent, we hope. 

Work Opened in Mersine 

I have found it absolutely necessary to give relief at 
Mersine, the port, though owing to limited funds, I have held 
off as long as possible. Here over 15,000 refugees are wait- 
ing for boats. Rainy weather has set in, adding to the misery. 
Mothers with babies, the sick, and the old and feeble had to 
be cared for. 

Miss Peggy Harris of the American school has taken 
charge of the work. The Y.M.C.A. loaned tents and canvas, 
and eighteen shelter places were put up. To mothers with 
babies and to tiny children we are giving milk mixed with 
barley gruel. A little later- we opened up a soup kitchen for 
the neediest, and are giving also a limited amount of bread. 
1 plan to withdraw this work as soon as possible. 

Dr. Haas and Miss Hotsen of the American Hospital in 
Adana have opened a temporary clinic and hospital in Mer- 
sine. The N.E.R. will pay for this necessary measure. Sick- 


ness of all sorts is rife among the refugees. Smallpox has 
appeared, and there is grave danger of an epidemic. 

Refugees’ Plight Pitiable 

Conditions on the boats in which these refugees leave are 
frightful. Baggage is piled pell mell on the decks, higher 
than the rails. On top of this the refugees have to find a 
perch, exposed to the cold and rain. There are no sanitary 
arrangements whatever. If plagues do not develop on some 
of these crowded misery-ships, it will be a miracle. The 
water supply is^entirely insufficient. No food can be obtain- 
ed ; the refugees bring as many days' supply as possible with 
them, and then buy from small boatmen in the ports along 
the way at exorbitant prices. 

Many of these refugees do not know where to go. Most 
of them will be stranded whert they get there. It is difficult 
in the rapid shift of events to predict what course our work 
will have to take. If these refugees return, as they may have 
to, we shall have an enormous relief problem here. 


THE VICKREY INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE 

In honor of Mr. Charles V. Vickrey, General Secretary 
of the N.E.R., the Committee of the Industrial Institute of 
Kottm-Kapou has renamed its splendid organization, "The 
Vickrey Industrial Institute. This tribute comes as an ex- 
pression of gratitude for the help given by the N.E.R. 

Over 100 boys in their teens live at the Institute, which 
is a stepping stone from orphanage life into economic inde- 
pendence. These older boys have chosen the trade they wish 
to pursue, and are serving apprentice-ships as goldsmiths, 
watch matchers, electricians, carpenters, tailors, blacksmiths, 
pharmacists and even dentists. 

They return to the Institute at night. Lessons and lec- 
tures relative to their work are given every evening. 

Each boy keeps twenty per cent of his wages for tram 
fare etc. and the balance is banked for him. When his ap- 
prentice-ship is completed therefore, and he leaves the In- 
stitute, he has a small capital as well as his trade with which 
to face the world. 

(Reprint from “ Ikdani ’ “ Forward ” December 12) 

The N.E.R. in cooperating with the "Turkish Committee 
for the Poor” is rendering the greatest help. On different 
dates they have distributed considerable amounts of supplies 
to the poor. 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


400 SQUARE MILES COVERED 
BY ALEXANDROPOL GENERAL RELIEF 

{From Alexandropol District report for December 8th ) 

One huge refugee camp, crowded with pitiable orphans 
and hungry, diseased, frost-bitten wanderers from the adjacent 
country-side, that is Alexandropol. To keep more refugees 
from coming into the already congested city, relief work is 
now being done in 128 villages by Kazachi Post under the 
direction of George E. Smith. 

The villages are divided into six districts, each with a 
central village from which supplies are distributed. At least 
two soup-kitchens are operated in each district. Here come 
shadowy, under-fed children, mothers with tiny, skeleton-thin 
infants, bent, rheumatic old grandmothers, walking with a 
staff in each hand, so feeble and infirm they can hardly reach 
the life-saving soup-kitchen. All manage to survive from day 
to day only because of the N.E.R. Food supplies are issued 
daily to the absolutely destitute only, There are 24,000 such, 
probably the most miserable derelicts in the world, in these 
128 villages. 

Relief in Alexandropol Proper 

3000 utterly destitute, together with a constant influx of 
pitiable objects, hardly recognizable as human beings, from 
villages beyond the area in which we are able to help, re- 
ceive regular refugee rations. In addition we furnish daily 
rations to 250 poverty patients in the government hospital, 
121 crippled and infirm in the government infirmary, one 
hundred suffering children in the children’s hospital and one 
hundred employes of these institutions. N.E.R. help is the 
mainstay of these public charities. 

Our Own Orphanages 

<030 girls and 776 boys fill five orphanages in the city 
tself. More children are being taken right along as they 
drift in from outside districts to drag their weak bodies aim- 
lessly about from refuse heap to refuse heap in search of 
nourishment. They are kept here only until there are va- 
cancies at the huge Kazachi Post and Polygon orphanages. 
Thus we act as a sort of clearing house. 

The orphans receive daily medical inspection, and the 
sick are treated in the orphanage ambulatory, or if seriously 
ill, are sent to the city orphanage hospital. Our newly com- 
pleted bath-house with its tile floor, modern tubs and show- 
ers will help keep down disease. 

All children receive schooling equivalent to our primary 
grades. Older boys and girls are being taught useful trades. 
The sewing classes make garments and mattress covers. 
Stockings received in the precious old clothes bales from 
America are first unravelled and then re-knit into children’s 
sizes by the knitting classes. The shoe apprentices make 
“churuks," native sandals of tanned cow-hide, and repair and 
re-make the worn shoes donated in America. The eagerness 


of these children, their quickness in “catching on,” and their 
absorbed intentness on the work is an inspiration. 

Besides these orphans, we take care of 900 needy child- 
ren, virtually orphans, giving them food, medical attention, 
clothes and education at the “N.E.R. Home for Destitute 
Children.” These waifs have places to sleep, sometimes with 
relatives, sometimes with friends. But that is all, for these 
are themselves refugees. They have a corner in a murky re- 
fugee camp, or a tiny, dirt-floored room in a mud house, but 
no food or clothes to spare. The “Home” is the most eco- 
nomical way of caring for these near-orphans. 

There will be desperate need here all winter long. Will 
we be able to cope with it ? The answer depends on America. 


ARMENIANS IN EGYPT RAISE FUNDS 
FOR CAUCASUS 

Intense interest in the pitiable plight of their countrymen 
is felt by the Armenians of Egypt, according to Dr. F. W. 
MacCallum, member of the Administrative Committee of the 
Near East Relief, who has just returned from Cairo. Quite 
a number of Armenians .who have established themselves in 
Egypt have become wealthy and influential businessmen. 

Donations of over 5000 Egyptian pounds ($25,000) have 
previously been raised by these strangers in a strange land 
for the N.E.R. to administer. Another campaign for funds 
is under way now. 

“Armenians are sometimes accused of being ungrateful,” 
said the speaker at a banquet given in Dr. MacCallum's 
honor. “Instead we are so overwhelmed by American gen- 
erosity and sympathy that we do not know how to express 
our gratitude.” 

Then he naively added, “The word for 'thank you’ in 
Armenian is very' long.” 

American Memorial Service 

A touching expression of the high esteem in which 
Americans are held was evidenced at the memorial service 
for Americans who have died while serving humanity in the 
Near East. This was held in the Armenian Catholic church 
in Cairo. The Bishop of Egypt officiated, and the church 
was crowded with sympathetic mourners. 

Dr. MacCallum’s message on leaving struck a note of 
hope and faith for the future of this troubled land. 

“Do not put your hope in America or in other nations,” 
said he. “Armenia will be saved, but by the Armenians. 
You will get self government, and by your own efforts. But 
first you must show yourselves worthy. The only policy for 
Armenia to pursue is one of friendship for all. The old 
ideas of revenge and of gain by fighting must be given up.” 

Truly Armenia can be fed and clothed and put to work 
by American generosity and American business methods. 
But she must be saved by Armenians themselves who must 
be guided by American ideals of democracy and fair play. 


' NEAR EAST RELIEF 3 


$10,000,000 CAMPAIGN ON IN AMERICA 

Mr. Charles V. Vickrey, General Secretary of the Near 
East Relief, opened the campaign for $10,000,000. at a meet- 
ing of editors and clergymen held in New York on Novem- 
ber 29. He said, 

"We have 100,000 children under our care, and there 
are at least 200,000 more without any protection, who need 
our help. About a quarter of a million refugees need our 
help.” 

The moving picture, "Alice in Hungerland”, was shown. 
The campaign is to provide necessary funds to carry on for 
this year. 


KONIA INDUSTRIAL SOLVES LIVING PROBLEM 

(From letter of Dr. Wm. S. Dodd, Director, Konia Unit) 

471 women, who would be absolutely destitute except 
for the N.E.R., are employed in the Konia Industrial. Most 
of them have large families to support -aged parents, a 
whole string of children, orphaned nieces and nephews — 
with only a day or two between them and impending star- 
vation. Our industrial work, while it cannot pay much, at 
least supplies the simplest food (mostly third quality bread) 
and the barest necessities. And so 471 families manage to 
keep alive. Americans never cease to wonder how these 
races of the Near East can exist, and even thrive, on so 
little. 

Wool work — combing, spinning, knitting, weaving - 
and sewing comprise the Industrial. 

The younger women, a buxom peasant type, comb the 
wool by pulling it through a double row of heavy needles 
mounted on a board. They work fast and deftly. Some- 
times, with thoughts more intent on the precarious future 
perhaps than on the present drudgery, a hand slips, blood 
spurts from a raw gash, and there is a call for an emergency 
dressing. But there is never a cry of pain, only a patient 
bearing of it all, which some how seems significant of all the 
sufferings of the bleeding Near East. 

Next the wool is spun on hand spindles, which are not 
unlike American boys' spinning tops. Bent, white-haired, 
toothless old refugees twist the soft wool strands together, 
give the "top” a smart twist, and the thread winds itself. It 
is fascinating to watch them. 

Now come the winders, working with a wooden wheel 
some three feet in diameter on to the rim of which the thread 
is wound. Poor, forlorn, shapeless old women, who look 
like so many bundles of rags on the floor, peer through eyes 
made almost sightless by trachoma or some other dread 
disease, and with worn, calloused fingers guide the thread 
and turn the wheel. 

The sewing women are a more intelligent type. In the 
sewing room the steady whir of American hand sewing 
machines is an accompaniment to their flying fingers. 

All the winter stockings, underwear, dresses, coats and 


trousers for our 694 orphans have been completed before the 
arrival of cold weather. In addition there is a stock of 
clothes on hand for relief work. They will be greatly needed 
here this winter. 

Miss Gaylord has charge of the Industrial, in addition 
to orphanages and schools. 

CONSTANTINOPLE RELIEF NOTES 

(From December Report ) 

1,200 okes of charcoal are being distributed among the 
1,690 refugees at Beshiktash, Haskeuy and Psamatia camps. 
The poorest of the refugees get charcoal free. Those not 
entirely stranded pay 2 x k piasters an oke, and the elite pay 5 
piasters an oke. 

Miss Arzoumanian, who has had teaching and story-tell- 
ing experience, has kindly organized a little school for 40 
Ortakeuy camp children. She is interested in these homeless 
little ones, whose days are so dull and drab, and hopes to 
bring to them through the classes a small share of what every 
child in America expects and accepts without thanks. A 
nearby school furnishes a room free. Miss Arzoumanian 
plans to get other volunteer workers from the Y.W.C.A. and 
so extend this excellent work. 

4,627 persons of 8 nationalities were reached by relief 
work during December in Constantinople alone. Food and 
clothes were the chief items, but shoes, milk for babies, char- 
coal and medicines were also given to the value of Ltq. 
13,194.21. One donation of clothing and shoes was for es- 
pecially needy Russian cases, which have been dismissed from 
hospitals and are penniless. Another of medicines went to 
a convent staffed by French sisters at Eski-Shehir in the war 
zone. 

The Hopless Future 

The hopeless part of the refugee camps here is that con- 
ditions cannot improve until the men get work. Ability, 
training, willingness count for nothing. There simply is no 
work in Constantinople. When ex-generals in tattered uni- 
forms are selling paper flowers on the business streets, when 
composers are seeking work as day laborers, mechanical en- 
gineers earning a pittance as porters, and cultivated men, 
who speak five or six languages fluently, glad to work as 
clerks for Ltq. 30 ($18) a month, what chance has an illiter- 
ate refugee? 

Idleness and overcrowding make the camps abominable 
places. It is surprising that sanitary conditions are no worse. 
Fortunately no epidemics have taken their toll as yet. Dur- 
ing these raw days, when the cold of the incessant drizzle is 
particularly penetrating, there is nothing for these wretched 
refugees to do but huddle closely together around the few 
flickering fires. Misery here has plenty of company. 

The enforced idleness brings with it low morale. Especially 
on the children is its effect pernicious. The people seem to 
be sinking into a bottomless morass of inertia, so remarkably 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


indifferent are they to their miserable surroundings and bleak 
future. Work and work only, for these people who can 
work, but who cannot resist idleness much longer, is desper- 
ately needed. i 


KONIA ORPHANS LEARN HOSPITAL WORK 

(From letter of Dr. Wm. S. Dodd, Director, Konia) 

The older boy orphans at Konia are being trained in 
hospital work. 

They start with the more menial jobs, water carrying, 
wood chopping and carrying, scrubbing. From this they 
step up to positions as day and night orderlies. A few of 
the brightest ones are being trained in the pharmacy and in 
X-ray work. 

The boys are conscientious, eager to learn, and take 
great pride in their work. As orderlies they are entirely 
trustworthy. Of course they are being trained in medical 
ethics, so that they are quite impartial in the treatment of 
the sick. Medical work, probably more than any other, helps 
erase the almost insurmountable racial differences, and 
makes for a sympathetic understanding. 


WELLESLEY COLLEGE FUND SUPPORTS 
BRUSSA SCHOOLS 

(From Miss Everett’s December Report ) 

900 children attending five schools throughout the city 
are receiving their first experience at education through the 
funds contributed by Wellesley College for this purpose, and 
administered by the Near East Relief. 

The Greek schools are very primitive. The teachers 
have a table and one or two little blackboards ; ' the children 
sit on the floor or on soap and milk boxes. In one small 
room there are 100 youngsters packed tightly together on the 
floor. 

It was most difficult to establish discipline among so 
large a brood, and one moreover, which had never been 
taught the rudiments of control of any sort. At first the 
children simply could not sit still. They wandered in and 
out at will, came late or not at all, carried on all sorts of sky- 
larking and mischief. 

Once taught the "why and wherefore,” they began to 
quiet down, and the classrooms now are orderly and well 
conducted. Best of all, the children are off the streets and 
away from the pernicious influence of the refugee houses 
or camps in which they live. And they are learning some- 
thing, slowly and painstakingly, but still really learning. 

Schools are a Center of Relief 

Many of the Armenian children are under-nourished. 
Especially during the winter, when these forlorn little ones 
are blue with cold, should nourishing food be furnished. 


We want to serve a frugal lunch, but we hardly dare start 
with our small budget. 

With cold weather comes the pressing need of shoes. 
We haven't nearly enough to go around. Many of the child- 
ren, we found, were staving away from school because they 
had no shoes to come in. 

Clothes for these children who never had a home are 
distributed at the schools. We found several good looking 
courderoy suits for boys in the last batch of old clothes sent 
us, and you can imagine how proud and comfortable the 
present possessors are. It is pleasure to give out whole and 
mended garments. 

ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Beach, Joseph W., of Bangor, Me. Yale '11. Taught at 
Harrisburg (Pa.) academy for three years; then entered Ban- 
gor Theological Seminary. Arrived in Near East on the S.S. 
Pensacola with the first N. E. R. personnel. Was assigned 
to Cesarea as Industrial Director, and became Director of the 
Unit in May 1920. Left for America in May 1921. 

Beach, Mrs. Joseph W., nee Blanche Easton. Graduate 
Presbyterian Hospital, N. Y. C. Came to Near East on the 
S. S. Leviathan, one of the first relief parties. Assigned to 
Smyrna and later to Cesarea at the Talas Hospital. Spent 
nearly two years in the N. E. R. and returned to America 
last May. 

Mr. and Mrs. Beach were married at Ridgewood, N. J. 
on July 12, 1921 and have just returned via England, Ger- 
many, Switzerland and the Balkans. 

Rust, Marion, of Bowling Green, Ky. Graduate Indiana 
State Normal College at Terre Haute. Was general secretary 
Y.M.C.A., Bowling Green, Ky. Has been with N.E.R. in Alep- 
po for three months. 

Rust, Beulah R. (Mrs. M.) Graduate Indiana State Nor- 
mal College and St. Louis Conservatory. Was in Y.M.C.A. 
war work. Mrs. Rust has probably sang to more soldiers 
than any woman in America. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Rust will be assigned to the Cau- 
casus Area. 


PERSONNEL NOT E S 

Misses Cora Beach and E. Kimball, who have returned 
from the Caucasus, have left for Paris on the Orient Express. 
They will go to London by aeroplane, and then sail for 
America. 

Mr. Edward F. Martin has left for Derinje, where he will 
relieve Mr. Leon Myer as Director of Warehouses. 

Mr. H. C. Jaquith and Mr. George White spent a day 
in Ismid. 


Printed by H. MATTEOSIAN 
Bible House, Constantinople 


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Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 3 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. January 21, 1922 


i 


ADANA ORPHANS MOVED 
TO CONSTANTINOPLE 

Mr. Byron Noone’s Account of the Trip 

At first, when it seemed that thousands of the Cilician 
refugees would be unable to leave Mersine because of the 
closing of the Syrian and other ports to them, we had re- 
moved the N.E.R. orphan boys from Adana to the American 
School in Tarsus, and had advised and helped some sixty of 
them who had run away to return from Mersine there. Then 
the change of policy on the part of the French, which not 
only opened the Syrian ports, but furnished cheap and even 
free transportation, swept away the last hope of our getting 
native help. Everybody was going. Nobody wished to stay. 

After much deliberation it was decided that the N.E.R. 
orphan girls should be removed to Constantinople. Accord- 
ingly, on the twenty sixth of December Miss Webb and Miss 
Ash together with the orphan girls 'eft Adana by rail for 
Mersine. • In Mersine they were kindly g : vcn accomodations 
in a large Armenian orphanage, the head of which crowded 
his children together to make room. 

The boys were to remain in Tarsus. 


Boys Force the Issue 

On the morning of the twenty eighth, when I was on my 
way from Adana to Mersine to make final arrangements for 
the transportation of Miss Webb's girls to Constantinople, I 
found all the boys in the Tarsus station waiting for me. Two 
Americans in the school ,had tried in vain to head them off 
and keep them away from the station. Blocked at one place 
of exit, the boys dashed desperately to another and all man- 
aged to get to the station about a half mile away from school. 
They solemnly greeted me when I stepped from the train and 
asked volumes of questions with their eyes. I asked Mr. 
Nilson, the head of the school, to tell the boys in Turkish 
that I could not take them out of Cilicia. 

Whereupon, 1 was greeted by a chorus of, "good bye, 
Mr. Noone,” and most of the boys turned back toward the 
station building in the direction of the school. I thought 
they had decided to make the best of things and were going 
back to the school. Not so. Two minutes later about sixty 
of the older boys, loaded down with bedding and bags climb- 
ed abroad the train. The train crew offered no objections, 
and the boys had a free ride to Mersine. 

The next day after these boys arrived in Mersine the or- 
phans of the Armenian Orphanage were placed on a boat 


bound for Beirut. Our sixty runaway boys and about fif- 
teen others, whom I had been holding in Mersine, scattered 
themselves among these children and managed to get on 
board the ship. They had gotten on board the boat when 
the morning train arrived from Adana. On this train 
were about sixty more runaways from Tarsus. Little fellows 
not much bigger than the bundles of the bedding they car- 
ried slopped hastily along through the muddy streets of Mer- 
sine, accompanied by a pet dog, two pigeons and a rabbit, 
straight for the quay. To their dismay, the last free boat 
had been closed to them. They were coaxed to go back to 
the orphanage where the girls were. 

It was now useless to try to continue as we had planned, 
and the remaining boys were brought from Tarsus to Mer- 
sine. The boys had forced the issue and nothing remained 
to do but to transport what few small fellows were left to 
Constantinople. 

Troubles Had Just Begun 

For two days in Mersine we tried to get lighters to get 
our children out to the Khecnviai boat waking for us. i ne 
exit of the French military forces from Cilicia was making 
use of all the big boats available and none were left to take 
us out or to unload the cargo of the boat on which we were 
to sail. At last on the third day of trying we managed to 
get a lighter, and children and baggage were gotten on board. 
At this time only one hundred and twenty four boys remain- 
ed from four hundred, and one hundred and fifty-six girls 
from two hundred. The sea was very rough in the Mersine 
roadstead and before the children reached the boat a large 
number of them were properly seasick. Some decided at 
once that they were dying, and it was difficult to convince 
them that seasickness was not fatal. 

The Khedivial boat on which we had booked passage lay 
two more days in Mersine before they finally were able to 
unload their cargo. The ship rolled about a great deal 
during this time, and the children were quite sure that they 
could not survive such a life. At last, on the fourth of Jan- 
uary, we left Mersine. From the time we left until we reach- 
ed the Dardanelles we had very stormy weather. The 
children were, with the exception of two, very seasick. "Feed- 
ing the fish” was their chief occupation. After we reached 
the Dardanelles, however, the weather became quite pleasant 
and the children enjoyed themselves thoroughly. One after- 
noon a number of boxing matches were staged between some 
of the boys. The captain of the boat began giving the con- 
testants a bottle of soda water each after the bout was over. 
Boxing soon became enormously popular, and I’m inclined 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


to believe that the supply of soda water was pretty low by 
the time the last two boys had had it out. 

After a delay of a day in Constantinople until the health 
authorities assured themselves that a sick boy did not have 
typhus, the boys and girls were finally landed and scattered 
about in the orphanages of Constantinople. 


THIS VILLAGE TYPICAL OF THE FRIGHTFUL 
CONDITIONS IN ARMENIA 

A report of a recent visit made by Miss Mabelle Phillips 
and Mr. R. M. Davidson of the Djelal-Oghli Unit to the 
village of Armanis, some six miles distant over a rough hill 
trail covered with snow, indicates the pitiable plight of the 
Armenian villagers who must have more help to struggle 
through the present severe winter. 

The village had some five hundred inhabitants. Houses 
were chiefly of stone, rudely built, covered with a nuid-and- 
hay mixture. Each house had but one door, and seldom a 
window besides. Floors were simply the ground. 

In the first house was a mother with six small children, 
huddled together over a small hole in the dirt floor in which 
a few tiny sticks were burning feebly. Over the fire was an 
ancient pot containing the thinest of gruels, water and an in- 
finitesimal piece of cabbage. This the mother and her brood 
were eagerly watching, for it was the only meal of the day, 
and also the first for several days. 

Three of the children were mere skin and bones, the 
others not far removed from that state. A weak cry from a 
torn and dirty blanket 'in a corner of the hovel disclosed 
another member of the family, a nine months old infant. 
This was the most distressing human speciman of the lot, 
a veritable living skeletbn. None of these children had ever 
tasted bread. 

Other houses visited were much the same, many hungry 
little mouths to be fed, and the merest fraction of food only 
on which to try to prolong life, The week before, two per- 
sons had died of starvation, and the others were helpless to 
aid. 

The magic word "America” is on the lips of all. Amer- 
ica and the American spirit of generosity and helpfulness 
can save these people now and teach them how to provide 
for themselves. 


N.E.R. DAY AT THE MINT 

The first and the fifteenth are "pay days” for the N.E.R. 
in Batoum. The entire output of the mint for those days is 
given the N.E.R. in exchange for dollars or Turkish liras. 

It runs up into hundreds of millions of roubles each 
time, and as 5000 roubles is the largest denomination of the 
bills, you can easily see that the paper supply in the Caucasus 
is nearly exhausted. 


Our truck chauffers are becoming positively blase, have 
to handle so much money. In fact the large bales of it cart- 
ed from the mint by the truck-load would tax the huskiest 
Constantinople "hamal.” 


Iv AR AIv LIS ‘ • KLA TIER” 

By John D. McNabb 

Snow and mud and mud and snow -almost as bad as 
the trenches. 

We have a new millionaire in our midst. Clavorian the 
cobbler, in dismembering an old shoe for parts, unearthed 
thirty-three perfectly good and negotiable American dollars; 
great destruction of American old shoes in consequence. 

Wild excitement in money circles - very ragged old lady 
received draft for twenty four dollars from her sou in Con- 
stantinople whom she thought a "dead one.” This influx of 
foreign capital has terribly upset the exchange market. 

Mrs. Brown has arrived from Erivan, via Ararat, to look 
after our orphanages. Seems dreadfully homesick. Says 
she misses the piano. 

Miss Peliow, our most accomplished horsewoman, met 
with an unfortunate accident yesterday in trying out a new 
steed. Her mount was careless enough to step down a 
steep declivity very unexpectedly and Miss P. with her saddle 
went over the horse's head. No casualties. 

Miss Phillips of the booming district of Djelal-Oghli 
paid its a flying visit the first of the week ; flew over on a 
"fur-gone” in about ten hours for the thirty miles. She and 
Mr. Grant entertained us with a duo-logue- upon the merits 
of a local horse doctor. 

Capt. Yarrow spent a day with us en route to Erivan. 
After spending most of the day settling the troubles of the 
ladies he went away with a somewhat worried look upon his 
usually beaming countenance. They do get under the skin, 
don’t they Cap ? 

Mrs. Harris accompanied the Captain together with 
some friends, and exhibited some of her Paris trophies. 

Maj. Davidson rode over from Djelal-Oghli and stood up 
all evening. We judged it was because he was too polite to 
sit in the presence of the D. G. 

Mr. Grant, our "affable young Purchasing Agent” has 
just returned from Tiflis and is being congratulated upon 
the widely circulated report of his marriage. Report so far 
undenied. 

Dr. Graff and Mr. McNabb were almost enabled to collect 
their War Risk Insurance a few days ago. The excellent 
chauffer and mechanic, recently graduated from the Tiflis 
Barber College, in trying to take his car around hairpin turn 
on two wheels, almost went over a cliff and before finally 
getting straightened out managed to sideswipe a rock wall on 
the opposite side of the road, both the car and McNabb's 
head being brought in contact therewith. The Doc. got off 
with a lump on the head as did McNabb, the latter having 
manfully upheld the best traditions regarding the impene- 
trability of the Scottish skull. 


X 




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NEAR EAST RELIEF 3 

\ 


Mr. Freeman, the farming expert, who is now conduct- 
ing the sewing classes at Polygon passed through our city 
last week. He is believed to be gathering ideas for the Spring- 
Bonnet Show at Alex. 

HOUSEKEEPING MADE EASY 

{Extracts from letter of Mrs. D. H. Sutton, Orphanage 
Director, Erivan, Armenia .) 

Last week we needed another house, for the family was 
suddenly enlarged by 400 children. So the District Com- 
mander went to the Powers That Be, stated his request, and 
got a permit for a house. No worry about an agreement 
with a landlord, no discussion about rent, for there is none 
— this is Bolshevism. 

To be sure the house has no roof, or only enough to go 
round the holes, and one has to walk carefully over the gaps 
in the floors. Of course the windows were glassless. But 
why worry ? We have cloth woven in our factory and boards 
from the canned milk boxes, and anyway fresh air is healthy 
for any growing famity. 

We got the house on Monday, and decided to move in 
on Thursday. First w r e got a gang of our Boy Scouts to 
work, shovelling ont the dirt left by the former occupants, 
several dozen refugee families, who had returned to their vil- 
lages. Then the roof and floors were patched up. As there 
was no kitchen, laundry or bathroom, we decided to convert 
a forlorn old “lean to”, with a sagging mud roof and a tum- 
ble-down stone wall into something neat and useful. So we 
made some real good Armenian variety of mud — bolstered 
and plastered up the wall — jacked up the roof so that it look- 
ed a little less like the letter “S” — divided the shed into three 
parts — sunk big iron cauldrons into the stone and mud - 
made wooden troughs for washtubs and bathtubs — and 
presto ! we have one of the best kitchens, bathrooms and 
laundries in Erivan. 

Necessity the Mother of Invention 

There is no running water. No matter, we have a family 
water squad, morning and evening, before and after school, 
to carry water from the public spring. We started house- 
keeping with no furniture, but as soon as wood can be got- 
ten, our boys will make some. We had no dishes, but our 
blacksmith boys made very nice tin cups from old tin cans. 

So with strips of cloth on the floors for tables, shining 
tin cups and wooden spoons, we w r ere perfectly content with 
our dining room arrangements. Sixty boys and girls spent 
one day filling mattress covers with straw, and these with two 
good American blankets, sheets and a pillow seem like Heav- 
en to these weary, half-starved, wandering waifs. 

You would have laughed to see us on moving-day, ox- 
carts piled high with our bedding, food and clothing (ad- 
vance guard) and a long line of animated rags and filth, 
poor, naked, half-starved little humans, fairly crying with joy 
at the prospect of a home and three meals a day, and some 
of us bringing up the rear with mops, brooms, barbers and 


American flags. When our procession finally reached the 
house, all 400 bundles of bugs and rags were corralled in the 
garden, stripped, scrubbed, heads shaved and clean clothes 
donned. You never saw such a transformation in your life ! 
And you never saw such joy ! 


OLD CLOTHES FR03I A31ERICA 
FILL PRESSING NEED IN CAUCASUS 

{Extracts from letter of Mr. R. M. Davidson, Djelel-Oghli , 

Caucasus.) 

I have often wondered about Joseph's coat, whether it was 
a handsome collection of many pieces of, colored cloth, or 
whether it was a bundle of colored rags, all tattered and torn. 
If the latter, he would receive very little attention here. The 
better class of natives here are clothed a la patchquilt, and 
the poorer natives and refugees would be fine models for 
some stage designer who wanted to improve on this year's 
model in scarecrows. 

Even old man Grump would have to smile if he could 
see the fifteen year old boy whom I saw chopping wood this 
morning at our refugee home for widows with children, old 
folks and cripples. He had on a pair of short trousers, a 
woman's red dressing sack, a gentleman’s full dress coat 
which reached below his knees, a Red Cross helmet, an old 
pair of oxfords, and no stockings at all, though the ground 
was covered with snow. 

Just now a man has come in to my office clad only in a 
pair of torn trousers and an old coat which was ripped down 
the entire back. Not another stitch did he have on. He 
came staggering in, after a twentyfive mile walk through the 
snow, and fell to the floor in a faint. The hunger and ex- 
posure had been too much for him. He had to be conveyed 
to the refugee barracks after he had been revived, in an ox- 
cart, for his feet were so badly frozen he could no longer 
stand the pain caused by walking. 

Outside of food, the old clothes bales from America are 
the greatest need we have at present. And we are not parti- 
cular about the styles either. 


WHO SAYS “QUIT?” 

“ Some days when our troubles seem too much for us,” 
writes Dr. M. E. Elliott from Erivan, “and we eight Americ- 
ans get together and begin relating them to each other, we 
are apt to say 'Why on earth do we stay here? Let's go home. 

I certainly am not going to do this awful work any longer.’ 
“Then we calm down, and the Orphanage Department 
says to the Medical Department, ‘Can you imagine my 5000 
children a year from now, if we pulled out?' And the Me- 
dical Department says to the Orphanage Deprtment, ‘Well, I 
went to the Government hospital yesterday, and when I think 
of the wretched things I saw there, with no nourishment, 

S 

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NEAR EAST RELIEF 


no medicines and no money to buy them with, why, my own 
ten hospitals and 927 patients looked like St. Luke's, Chicago.’ 

" Go home? Not till" job is finished ! " 

INGENIOUS ORPHANS USE ODDS AND ENDS 

(Extract from letter of Mr. L. Ray Ogden, Director 
Boys’ Work, Alexandropol, Caucasus.) 

The number of things these untrained youngsters of the 
Caucasus can make from a piece of tin is perfectly marvelous. 
First, from old pieces of tin with the aid of a discarded file 
they make a knife blade. This is inserted into a wooden 
handle, and then they set put to make more pretentious 
things. 

One of the boys who works in the orphanage tin shop 
made, during his spare time, a train of small cars and an 
engine true to life in every way. It was four feet long, and 
after an inclined track had been built, a dozen boys at a time 
piled on for rides. 

Every stove used in the orphanages was made by the 
boys from tin removed from the roofs of destroyed buildings 
From this too, they make their shovels, dust-pans, water pails j 
small bath tubs, kerosene cans and innumerable utensils 
needed in a home for 6000 boys. We never throw away a 
tin can. Instead cups are made from them ; even the plates 
for all our food were made from old cans, until our clay pot- 
tery shop was opened. 

I wish you could see some* of the houses these bright 
boys have built from what appeared to be nothing. The 
sides are made of mud, over which a coat of white-wash 
made from discarded old lime or mortar has been painted. 
Broken bits of glass, squared up and set into frames, all 
hand-made, make windows. Doors made from tin or bits o^ 
boards have been neatly and cleverly hung. Inside one find s 
a hand-made chair or stool, a wide divan, and a scrap-made 
tin stove. Sometimes there are neatly fashioned clay flower 
pots, and always there is a tin samavor with tin tea-pot atop 
it. On shelves ranged around the wall are a variety of tin 
ornaments patterned after Persian pitchers, Turkish water jugs 
and basins, Kurdish tea kettles. One could not do better 
with a complete outfit of tools. 

Flow I shall point my finger hereafter at the boy in 
America, who tells me that it cannot be done, because there 
are no tools, or no materials. What a lesson in thrift and 
economy a two weeks vacation here would be for our Amer- 
ican boyhood. 


THANK YOU 

The Orphange Department has just received a generous 
donation of athletic goods from the Y.M.C.A. for use at 
Kooleli Orphanage. The active youngsters there are quick to 
learn American games. They are most grateful for this 
donation. 

X 

N 

\ 





N.E.R. GUESTS OF HONOR AT TEA 

American personnel of the N.E.R. were guests of honor 
at a tea given on January fourteenth (the Armenian New 
Year’s Day) by the twenty-five District Directors of the Case 
Committee in the library of the Armenian church, Pera. 

Mrs. Suvadjian, representing the Direciors, welcomed the 
guests, and spoke of the gratitude in the hearts not only of 
those receiving relief, but also of those who like herself, were 
engaged in administering relief. Dr. MacCallum spoke for 
the N.E.R. 

Mrs. Richard Emrich, head of the Case Committee, also 
spoke saying it was only through educated people, like the 
local Directors, that the masses could be reached. Mrs. Em- 
rich was presented with gifts from some of the grateful people 
whom the N.E.R. has helped, a tiny bit of lace, a box made of 
pieces of glass, small wood carvings, a little square of em- 
broidery-pathetic remembrances from these thankful people, 
who, having nothing, can still find ways to express what is in 
their hearts. 


PERSONN E UNO T E S 

Word has been received by radio that Dr. Mark Ward 
of the Harpoot Unit is ill with typhoid fewer and Miss Eliza- 
beth Bury of the same Unit has typhus. Miss Theda Phelps- 
of the Sivas Unit is also suffering with typhus. Best wishes 
for speedy recoveries are extended to these brave Americans, 
who “carry on” in the Interior despite hardships and danger. 

Miss Elizabeth Morgan is returning from Harpoot via 
Aleppo. 

Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Lathrop, Mr. and Mrs. Marion Rust, 
Messers Charles Hoelzle and Alfred D. Merritt sailed for Ba- 
toum last week en route to their stations in the Caucasus Area. 

Miss Isabel Norkewiez has returned from a month’s leave 
in Palestine and Egypt. Miss Ruth Woodis, who accompan- 
ied her, sailed for America from Alexandria. 

Mrs. George White is rapidly recovering from her recent 
operation. She has left Robert College Hospital and joined 
Mr. White at their new home at Bebek on the Bosphorus. 

Miss Bernice Everett, Director of the Brussa Unit, is in 
Constantinople having some dental work done. 

Mr. Walter E. .Curt has relieved Mr. Peter Prins as Direc- 
tor at Rodosto. Mr. Prins and Miss M. L. Caldwell have gone 
on leave to Vienna. They will visit Venice, Florence, Rome 
and Naples before returning to Constantinople. 

Misses Elizabeth Webb and Ida Ash, and Mr. Byron 
Noone are in Constantinople, having come up with the Ada- 
na orphans. 


Printed by H. M ATTEOSI AN 
Bible House, Constantinople 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 4 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. January 28, 1922 


TRACHOMA TREATED ON LARGE SCALE 
IN CAUCASUS 

(From Report of Dr. R. T. Uhls, District Commander, 
Seversky Barracks) 

The great scourge among the children is trachoma. This 
is a malignant, virulent eye disease “as old as the Nile, the 
simoon and the desert." It is exceedingly prevalent in Egypt, 
Palestine, all of Turkey and Russia. It condems the victims 
to that living death, blindness. 

Dr. John McMullin, U. S. Public Health Service, says of 
trachoma, “When the disease attacks little children, they are, 
untreated, too often the victims of untold misery. They 
pass their dismal days endeavouring to shield their eyes from 
the light. So constant and excruciating is the pain that this 
one thought occupies them to the exclusion of everything 
else in life." 

Trachoma is most difficult to cure, no specific remedy 
having yet been discovered. With operations and caustic or 
astringent medicines some few cases are cured in three or 
four months. Most cases require many months, and some 
require years. The proper way to treat trachoma is to 
prevent it. This is possible only by a perfect isolation of the 
infected patients. 

Huge Trachoma Orphanage Planned 

On an inspection of the orphans at Alexandropol it was 
found that approximately one third were suffering with 
trachoma in its various stages. It was seen that half-way 
measures would accomplish nothing, so negotiations were 
begun with the government to take over Seversky Barracks, 
a large army post, consisting of forty buildings, which had 
been partially demolished by the Turks. 

The buildings were huge affairs, the thick walls of which 
were unharmed, but there was not a single pane of glass, a 
window frame or a door left intact. The post had been oc- 
cupied by the first influx of refugees from Turkish Armenia, 
and they completed the work of destruction, by tearing out 
the window and door casings, floors, roof beams and any 
wood they could get to use for fuel. 

Construction was started in August 1921. In this be- 
nighted country the only thing that is plentiful is labor, so 
soon 400 men were at work. Building material, lumber, 
roofing, tin, etc. were obtained from buildings which were 
demolished beyond repair. Large beams were sawn into 
boards, all by hand, crumpled pieces of tin were straightened, 


put on the roofs, and also made into stoves, which were held 
together by stove rivets made from old nails. 

N. H. Anderson was put in charge of construction. The 
only qualification he had for the position was that he was a 
former Wesleyan star athlete, but who ever saw an American 
who could not rise to the occasion? During the early days 
a group of fifteen or twenty laborers were found sitting down, 
holding a council as to the best means of getting one of the 
large beams to the ground. The former shot-putter climbed 
up to the roof, picked up the huge beam and threw it to the 
ground. So much for the advantages of a college education ! 

Work Progressing Rapidly 

By December 15 four buildings had been completed and 
occupied by 1663 orphans. Other buildings were ready to 
accommodate 1000 more by January first. All buildings 
will be completed by Spring, when all the trachoma orphans 
from the district will be sent here. It is estimated that there 
will not be less than 60C0 cases. 

At present our personnel consists of four American 
nurses, a director of finance and supply, a director of con- 
struction, and the necessary native help. Due to the present 
chaotic condition it is possible to obtain competent doctors, 
engineers, nurses etc. for a wage which amounts to no more 
than maintenance. Labor difficulties are unknown here, as 
there are dozens of applicants for all positions. 

A modern 200 bed hospital has been established. This 
will be used for surgical and severe cases alone. The whole 
plant is one vast hospital, which will have a greater number 
of patients than any institution known to the writer. 

Never has there been such an opportunity for research. 
Thousands of cases are under absolute control and daily 
observation. In an editorial “Writers Opportunity," one 
reads, “The power to transfer your thought and make it ef- 
fective is the greatest power, excepting the exceptional power 
to discover a new scientific truth.” 

Send to these suffering children a research worker with 
the power to discover the cause of trachoma. 


NEW SOUP KITCHEN OPENED IN ERIVAN 

The former “Bread Line” operated by the Erivan or- 
phanage has been moved to more commodious quarters and 
with the advent of cold weather turned into a “Soup Kttchen.” 
Only children who receive no government aid, but who 
have homes, are being admitted. In this way the children 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


can be supported while at home, and the chance Of desertion 
so lessened. 

250 children are served at a time. There are four shifts, 
commencing at ten A.M. 


NEW INDUSTRIAL TO EQUIP 8000 
BED HOSPITAL 

(Extracts from letter of Miss P. Jordan, Alexandropol ) 

If you were hungry, and had been hungry for months, 
and your children were nearly naked and half starved, 
wouldn't you, if you heard of a job, fight for it? That is 
exactly what every woman in Alexandropol did, when the 
news that the N.E.R. was to open a sewing-shop went around. 

Before day-break an excited crowd filled the street. 
When I got off my horse, I was nearly torn to bits. The 
women, threw themselves on their knees, clutched at my 
skirts, kissed my hands,' and with tears rolling down their 
cheeks, begged for work. Finally two of our militia came 
out and dragged me by main force through the crowd and 
into the shop. 

We are making 3000 mattresses, 10,000 sheets, and every- 
thing else -underwear, dresses, coats- in proportion, to take 
care of the 3000 children for whom the hospital is being- 
equipped. 

The workers sit on the floor, stuffing the mattress sacks 
they have made with native wool, nicely washed and pulled, 
next sewing up the ends, and then stabbing through the 
stuffed sacks with needles eight inches long to quilt them. 
Bundles of rags, they rock back and forth at their work, slow, 
patient, Eastern. Sometimes they fold their hands and gaze 
into space, until the sharp voice of the manager calls them 
back to work. 

Not always, though, is the shop so quiet. The other 
day I was sitting on a table, giving some orders about dresses, 
when the oil-lamp suspended from the ceiling began to away. 
There was a frightened murmer all over the room, and a 
■sudden rush for the door. The table on which I was sitting- 
rose and fell like a ship in a rough sea. 

“Earthquake, earthquake,” everyone cried. One woman 
fainted. It lasted only a few seconds, but made me feel a 
bit seasick. 

There is plenty of work for these women until Spring, 
and then the majority of them will be able to find work in 
the fields. By that time the hospital will be fully equipped, 
and able to carry on with the help of the orphan girls. 


ORPHANAGE OPENED AT ECHMIADZIN TO 
TAKE OVERFLOW FROM ERIVAN 

Buildings to accommodate 2000 orphans have recently 
been turned over to the N.E.R. by the Catholicos at Ech- 
miadzin, Armenia. Here the overflow picked off the streets 


of Erivan will be sent until more buildings can be obtained 
in that town. ■ 

The ragged, nearly starved bits of human driftwood 
which have been living in the streets and bazaars for months 
are first held in a quarantine building for about a week. If 
they have contagious diseases they are sent to one of our 
hospitals. If all they need is proper care and food, they are 
sent to Echmiadzin, where they start on the N.E.R. road to 
Happiness. 


RODOSTO FARMS MAKING FINE HEADWAY 

(From Rodosto Unit December Report) 

The most gratifying result of the work at Rodosto is the 
progress being made on the two farms. 

Suleymanli Farm, on which 440 Rodosto refugees were 
settled last autumn, has 26 teams of oxen with as many plows' 
busy from daylight until dark. All are occupied preparing 
the soil for spring crops. 1500 denims (four denims make an 
acre) have already been planted, and 1000 more plowed. By 
spring, 7500 denims will have been planted. 

So far 10,000 okes of wheat (an oke is 2.8 pounds), 750 
okes onions, 950 okes barley, 400 okes gralic, and 700 okes 
beans have been planted. Crops of 12 to 15 for one are 
guaranteed. The workers have divided themselves into three 
parties, and competition is very keen. All are intensely in- 
terested and full of praise for the Americans, who have given 
them this opportunity to support their families and to regain 
their self-respect. Their cooperation is splendid. 

A school for 150 children has been opened on the farm. 
In addition to the usual primary and intermediate subjects, 
special courses in general agriculture will be given. 

Osmanli Farm was settled in the fall by 300 refugees from 
Constantinople. Owing to the lateness of the season, they 
are somewhat handicapped, but they are going ahead with 
splendid spirit. 20 teams of oxen and plows are competing 
in five groups into which the refugees are divided according 
to the section of Armenia from which they originally came. 

To date 8000 okes of wheat, 175 of onions, 220 of garlic* 
450 of barley and 100 of beans have been planted. 

Our doctor and nurse spend two days a week at the 
farms conducting general clinics. The average of health is 
high, and sanitary conditions also are good. 

“Washington Farm” is the name the Suleymanli refugees 
have given to their settlement. They are now requesting an 
American flag. It is extremely satisfying to help these cour- 
ageous people get on their feet once more. Their willingness 
to acquire American methods, in the face of century-old cus- 
toms and usages of their own, is nothing short of marvelous. 
Every worker seems to feel that the success of the entire pro- 
ject rests on himself, and so we have an esprit self-entirely 
de corps that assures the ultimate fulfilment of our plan - an 
supporting refugee farm. 


3 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


SCRAJ1BLING ’EM UP 

The scramble took place around a big, illuminated 
Christmas tree at the Y.W.C.A. service-center in Pera, on 
January 19th. It was that organization's party tc the child- 
ren of Constantinople, paid for with funds raised by its girls 
clubs, and the 160 youngsters present were supplied by Near 
East Relief orphanages and refugee camps, by the Greek Cen- 
tral Committee, the Russian creche and the Turkish orphan- 
age at Ortakeuy. 

Promptly at 2 P.M., the big Near East Relief trucks drove 
up at the service-center, loaded with eager-eyed children from 
Halki, Cabatache, Boadjikeuy, Ortakeuy, and Psamatia. 
They piled upstairs to the gymnasium floor, and the scramb- 
ling of nationalities began. The scrambler-in-chief was a 
rotund, red-garmented Santa Claus, with a huge sack and 
undeniable whiskers, who dispensed bulging stockings and 
toys to little Greeks, Armenians, Turks and Russians by the 
light of the big tree. And just as soon as they fell to munch- 
ing their candies, blowing their tin horns, vivisecting some 
of their toy animals and licking the paint off others, you 
realized that they were magnificently scrambled into one 
glorious Childhood, through the unfailing recipe of happi- 
ness. 

Three hours later, 160 Hagops, Halides, Demetriuses, 
Hadjis and Stepans, all weary and all blissful, were system- 
atically unscrambled and sent off in Near East Relief trucks 
to their respective orphanages, screaming "Thanks !'' in four 
different languages. 

Asdwasorhne! Gospodi blagoslavi ih ! O Theos na 
sas evloyissi ! Allah onlari mouhafaza etsine ! And likewise, 
God bless them ! Yes, it was surely a grand and glorious 
Christmas scramble. 


CASE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN EXPRESSES 
GRATITUDE 

The Managing Director has received the following letter 
from Mrs. A. H. Suvajian, Chairman, Case Committee: 

"As we look back to the past year and the work the 
Near East Relief has done for the Armenians here, our hearts 
fill with gratitude towards the people who have made such 
help possible. 

"Besides the material assistance we have received through 
the Relief, the spirit and interest which our American friends 
have shown in their work has gone very far in comforting our 
broken and often despairing group of Armenians. 

"The Americans have been real friends to us, putting 
their hearts into the work for our children especially. They 
have always pushed us forward in our efforts, helped us by 
new suggestions, and have done all in their power to bring 
comfort and cheer to those who needed it so much. 

"We wish to express for the coming year first of all our 
heartiest desire to cooperate with you in the best way we can, 


and also to extend to you our best wishes for strength and 
joy in your work. 

"This letter is an expression of the sentiment of all the 
members of the Armenian Case Committee, and we might 
truthfully add that it is the sentiment of hundreds of other 
Armenian women in this city." 


ALEPPO AGAIN OVERFLOWING 
WITH REFUGEES 

( From December Report of Mr. Geo. C. Doolittle , 
Director Aleppo Unit.) 

The Aleppo District still lives up to its reputation as 
Surpriseland. The city had barely assimilated the thousands 
of refugees who streamed in during the summer of 1920 and 
the spring of 1921, when a new refugee army descended on it. 

These are the recently evacuated Cilician refugees, com- 
ing in large numbers by way of Aintab and Killis. Daily 
the slow-going ox-carts, filled with bundles and bales and 
weary passengers, all topped by a soaked burlap cover, make 
their way along the main street of Aleppo, on the last bit of 
the sixty-five mile trek. They have encountered rain and 
mud by day, bitter cold by night. 

And arrived at Aleppo, what awaits them ? Only a 
corner on the floor of some crowded caravansary, or for the 
more fortunate, perhaps a tiny room in some refugee house. 
Work is at a premium. Most of these new refugees will be 
job-less. The needs even now are overwhelming. 

The Armenian residents of Aleppo are doing excellent 
work in assisting these latest unfortunate brethren. The 
Near East Relief is aiding in every way, as funds and supplies 
permit. 


OLD CLOTHES SECURE LIBRARY 
FOR N.E.R. SCHOOLS 

(Extract from letter of Dudley P. Lewis, Assistant District 
Commander, Erivan, Armenia .) 

After clothing our 4000 orphans and 800 native em- 
ployees, the most effective distribution of the old clothing 
sent by generous Americans has been among our school 
teachers and their friends, people of the upper classes. These 
are people who naturally abhor charity, but who have little 
to give in return. 

The Armenian Director of one of our schools, a graduate 
of Berlin University by the way, worked the thing out by 
judiciously trading old clothes for books. In three months 
our school library increased from 200 volumes to 20,000, and 
we now have the largest library in Armenia. 

The precious old clothes are doing double work, while 
the wearers thereof are able to retain their self-respect. 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


“REFUGE FOR THE POOR” GRATEFUL TO N.E.R. 

“Humanity will write with golden pen in the history of 
nations the generosity of America,'' reads a letter received 
from the four religious heads of the Dar-ul-Adjzeh (Refuge 
for the Poor) Constantinople. 

“We witness with our own eyes,” the letter goes on, 
“the gratefulness and the prayers of the poor with whom we 
live. The means of our institution having been reduced 
considerably owing to the economic crisis, it is with the help 
of the N.E.R. that we are able to serve a hot soup, nutritious 
food, and provide a bath and a warm bed for the aged in- 
mates here. We are saving them from the jaws of death.” 

The Refuge is non-sectarian, and accepts aged poor of 
all nationalities and faiths. 


TEN ORPHAN BOYS GET THEIR “CHANCE” 

{Extracts from letter of Mrs. R. G. McNaughton ) 

Ten orphan boys are being given an unusual opportuni- 
ty to “make good” at Bithynia High School, which is beauti- 
fully located right on the shore of the Sea of Marmora at 
Guez-Tepe near Constantinople. 

These boys were chosen from the various orphanages in 
this area for good conduct, general ability and promise. 
They are receiving all the advantages of an American educa- 
tion, which should fit them for leadership among their people 
later. 

The strong element in any school, and especially in the 
East, is the group of boys who are self reliant, helpful, and 
not afraid of work. These boys are part of that element. 
Each of them has his part in the household, and is learning 
that labor is a right and noble thing in any boy’s educa- 
tion. 

A number of the N.E.R. personnel who are interested in 
these boys are paying part of their expenses. Dr. J. P. 
McNaughton is in charge of the school. 


OLD CLOTHES LEGAL TENDER 

Erivan wanted to buy a supply of wood last month. 
Nothing doing, as long as roubles were offered. And no 
wonder, for one gets three million roubles for a dollar. 
Run 'em right off the press for you while you wait. 

But the minute old clothes were offered, the office was 
swamped with wood sellers. Old clothes are really one's 
most valuable possession in Armenia. They can be exchang- 
ed for anything and everything, and are actually a medium 
of exchange all over the country. 

An old overcoat will buy enough food to keep a child 
alive for a month. Think or that, when you are ready to 
discard old clothes. 


A BIT OF AMERICA IN ARMENIA 

(Extracts from letter of C. F. Rowland, Supt. Refugee 
Dept., Erivan) 

Oue might almost think Erivan, Armenia, was a small 
transplanted section of America. The Stars and Stripes wave 
proudly over every one of our buildings here, and we are 
occupying thirty of them. 

The other night one of our native employes was mar- 
ried, and as is the custom, the marriage procession came 
marching down the street led by a band. They were playing 
“The Star Spangled Banner!” I could hardly believe my 
ears, our national anthem played by a Russian military band 
on Soviet soil ! 

It is surprising how well the educated people here follow 
American politics, and how familiar they are with the names 
of our great men. The other evening I was invited to the 
home of a business man. One of the many toasts was “to 
the health of Theodore Roosevelt, the great friend of the Ar- 
menian people." Another toast was “to George Washington.” 

It makes no difference in the toasting whether the one 
so honored is dead or not. Toasts were drunk also “to the 
the health of all the Armenians massacred by the Turks,” 
and “to the health of those who fell in the Great War.” 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Mills, Thomas of New York City. Has done executive 
work for the New York City Government, and also news- 
paper work with the Associated Press. With American Red 
Cross for past two years doing field work in the Baltic States 
and Finland. Sailed for Batoum January 21, to assume du- 
ties in Caucasus Area. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Mr. H. B. McAfee reached Beirut on November 19th to 
assume duties as Director-General of the Beirut-Aleppo Area. 

Dr. A. L. Shepard, formerly Director at Aintab, has re- 
turned from America to resume his hospital work there. 

Miss Theda Phelps of the Sivas Unit is happily recover- 
ing from an attack of typhus. 

Word from distant Harpoot bring the good news that 
both Dr. Mark Ward, who has been suffering with typhoid 
fever, and Miss Elizabeth Bury, who has typhus, are past the 
danger point. 


Printed by H. MATTEOSI AN 
Bible House, Constantinople 


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— 


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Edited by the Near East Relief for* Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 5 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. February 4, 1922 


DJALAL-OGHLI ORPHANS NEARING 
NORMALCY 

From report of Miss Mabelle C. Phillips, Orphanage Supt.) 

Our fine new hospital was opened in December. A re- 
ception ward for fifty children has been included. We keep 
it full to capacity all the time with new applicants, and have 
a waiting list of at least 150 in the refugee barracks. 

At last it looks as though favus has disappeared. ' Those 
suffering with this scalp disease have been been placed in the 
new hospital, and there is no more danger of infection to the 
others. 

The great majority of the children continue to show 
marked improvement in health. We only regret that we have 
not the time, apparatus, and personnel to register their gains 
with scientific accuracy. 

Legs are a Problem 

Thanks to the 1342 garments tinned over to us by the 
Industrial Department during the month, we look all dressed 
up in complete outfits of clothes. Legs, unfortunately, remain 
a problem. The Superintendent regrets sometimes that human 
nature did not develop along a more economical line, uni- 
pedal, in short. As it is, in spite of 224 pairs of new stock- 
ings and 376 pairs of shoes^ not new, but reconstructed, as 
this is the Age of Reconstruction, many feet are still bare, or, 
little better, in stockings only, on the snow and mud. 

A quota of forty-two very interested little girls is busily 
ravelling Red Cross wristlets to obtain yarn to make feet in 
more Red Cross wristlets, Thus hastily are stockings for 
bare feet constructed from the comforts American women 
made for their soldiers in France. 

In the Boy’s Orphanage there are 253 pairs of legs bare, 
but only 26 pairs, fortunately, among the girls and little 
children. The Shoe Department has been doing wonders 
without tacks or tools, but still greater miracles must be per- 
formed unless we are to continue to suffer the sight which 
must always attack any sufficiently-clad person’s conscience 
at the sight of bare feet in the snow. 

Food in Excellent 

No twinges of conscience, however, are felt by this suf- 
ficiently-fed person, when the orphan portion of food is 
brought to her daily for official tasting. It is adequate, and 
it is varied. Fruit in dried form is given five times a week. 
Only fat is lacking, though that is somewhat included in the 


meat which is given four times a week. A special treat of 
an apple apiece was given on Christmas day, and one Sun- 
day the little children had a chicken dinner, chicken being 
cheaper than meat for the moment. 

School manages to continue, though we have no benches 
or desks, and in spite of the confusion incident to carrying 
on seven or eight classes in one room, however large, without 
partitions. Books for the first and second classes we have 
not been able to obtain anywhere. Most of the children 
came to us illiterate, which is only natural after years of war, 
but they are taking hold in an astonishing way. 

Our children are nearing normalcy in clothes, health, 
and education, and are going to be world-beaters before we 
get through. 


108 GROUPS IN POLYGON (ARMENIA) SCHOOLS 
OPERATED BY N.E.R. 


N. E. R. orphan boys realize how much they have miss- 
ed while wandering from pillar to post during the last few 
troubled years, and are working in earnest and with wonder- 
ful spirit at the N.E.R. schools. 

Walls and partitions of the schools are of stone, covered 
with whitewashed plaster. Most of the floors are cement. 
There is no heat in the buildings other than that given off 
by the packed-in bodies of the students. Window panes are 
needed everywhere. 

Desks are crude board affairs, and where there are none, 
the boys kneel on the cement floor, and use their benches as 
writing space. Instead of regular black-boards the teachers 
have to use squares of tin nailed on the wall, writing with 
charcoal. Teachers are without chairs or tables for their 
own use. 

Discipline is perfect; the children are too interested in 
their studies to find time for skylarking. They write well but 
slowly. Every boy takes a vociferous part in the opening 
songs which are sung every morning. As is the custom at 
home, pupils raise the hand when they want the teacher's 
attention. 


How many American teachers would stand daily on a 
cement floor, dressed as for a sleigh ride, administering men- 
tal food to a crowd of poorly clad pupils, and all for about 
three dollars a month, a few old clothes, and slim rations? 

Yet in spite of the crude equipment and the many dis- 
comforts due to the lack of even the most necessary things 
in this country which has been so stripped of everything, the 
orphans are getting an education, and a good one. 




2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


OLD CLOTHES SALES PAY 
FOR ALL RENOVATING WORK IN TIFLIS 

( From Letter of Miss F. L. Myers, Superintendent, 
General Relief, Tiflis.) 

The Old Clothes Sales Shop managed by the N. E. R. in 
Tiflis is the real thing in Rue de la Paix couteriers for the 
ex-aristocracy. A capable Russian woman, who has done 
charitable work in Tiflis for years, is in charge of the estab- 
lishment. 

She and her staff unpack, sort, wash and renew the old 
skirts, coats, trousers, and hats. Each woman has her own 
speciality. For example, one worhan re-makes all the hats ; 
her department would be a great surprise to the American 
donors. 

So for everything else. If clothes are dirty, they are 
washed ; if they are holey, they are mended or patched. The 
most is made of every little scrap. Pieces of women's gar- 
ments are made into baby frocks. Old ties are washed, turned 
and pressed ; they bring ten thousand roubles each. 

The shop sells to people who were once wealthy, but 
who now are down to rock bottom. As long as they can, 
they pay for things. We sell only a limited number of clothes 
to each person, so that we are sure individuals, and not spec- 
ulators, get them. Our nominal charges help these people 
maintain their self-respect, and at the same time take care of 
all the administrative expenses of the entire clothes distribu- 
tion in Tiflis. 


ETCHMIADZIN ORPHANAGE CRADLE 
OF CHRISTIAN FAITH 

The latest N.E.R. orphanage in Armenia is housed in the 
oldest monastery in the world, Etchmiadzin Monastery, the 
cradle of the Christian faith in Armenia. It was once the 
residence of the much venerated St. Gregory, the Enlightener, 
founder of the Armenian religion. 

The monastery is a huge place, surrounded by a massive 
wall, which has sustained many a siege and repelled frequent 
attacks by Kurds, Turks, Tartars, Persians and Saracens. 
At the outbreak of the World War, when thousands of Ar- 
menians fled from Turkey, the monastery gates were thrown 
open to receive them, and here they remained safe for many 
months. One of the buildings is the oldest in Armenia, said 
to hflve been built in 350 A. D. 

The last group of 200 street waifs from Erivan arrived 
in Etchmiadzin January fourth, and once more the hospitable 
old buildings are giving shelter to the derelict. 

Dr. M. E. Elliott of the American Women’s Hospitals, 
District Physician at Erivan examined these children the day 
after they arrived, and said “They were rescued just in time. 
I don’t see how they could have lived a week longer.” 


ORPHAN HUNTING IN THE SHADOW OF 
MOUNT ARARAT 

(. Extract from letter of Dudley P. Lewis, Assistant District 
Commander, Erivan, Armenia, December 18, 1921) 

A month ago we were taking care of some 3000 orphans 
in our thirteen orphanages and eight hospitals. 

Hundreds of children, diseased, starving, un-cared for, 
were roaming around the streets like little animals. In fact 
they were savages ; to our horror we came upon a group one 
day who were tearing to. pieces a dead horse and with ghoul- 
ish cries were devouring it like vultures. Within a week 
three tiny children were found dead on the streets, dead from 
sheer starvation and exhaustion. 

We had to save these children. So night after night 
our devoted workers prowled through the bazaars, and 
searched through the parks until eleven or midnight. What 
looked like a bundle of rugs wrapped up in an old rug was 
some tired youngster, cold, hungry, nearly gone. 

We gave out orphanage admission tickets, our inter- 
preter explaining the meaning of these bits of paper, and the 
children would actually smile, kiss the tickets, and then clutch 
our hands to kiss them. 

Over 1000 more children have been picked off the streets 
in the past month, given baths and medical care, and are now 
getting to be normal children, on the road to health and 
happiness. 

THE OLD, OLD STORY REPEATED 
AFTER 1921 YEARS 

(From letter of Mr. R. M. Davidson, Djalal Oghli, Armenia ) 

On Christmas morning of 1921 there was born in Dja- 
lal-Oghli, a child whose parents, Mateos Kevorkiants, a car- 
penter, and Anichka, his wife, refugees, were far from home, 
and amid strangers. 

The child was born in a small, window-less stable, where 
there was a cow and a sheep. There was no fire in the build- 
ing, though the cold was penetrating. The baby was born 
not in a manger, as there was none, but on a bed of bricks, 
covered with a light layer of straw. The mother was without 
bed-covering, and had not even an old cloth to wrap around 
her new-born babe. 

No physician was present to aid her in her hour of great 
need. No one was there but her husband, poor distracted 
man, whose dire poverty prevented him from securing the 
needed aid. The physical and mental suffering of the mother 
and the mental suffering of the father were nearly insup- 
portable. 

A woman who lived near the stable, herself very poor 
gave the mother her own bedding, and the baby some cloth- 
ing, as soon as she learned of the birth in her neighbor's 
family. When the Near East Relief heard the story, the 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


3 


American personnel hastened to the stable, bearing with them 
gifts of food, warm clothing, and bedding, and taking with 
them the spirit of the day. 

Owing to the large number of children in Djalal-Oghli 
who are born under conditions nearly as bad as those under 
which this Christmas baby entered the world, the Near East 
Relief plans to open a maternity ward as soon as possible. 


ALEXANDEOPOL ORPHANS GROW FAT ON 
THESE RATIONS 

To provide a careful balancing of food rations, while 
maintaining a credit balance in the supplies account, requires 
considerable mental gymnastics. 

Here is the model ration which has been adopted for the 
Alexandropol orphans : 

Breakfast : every day Vi can milk, Vuo tin cocoa. 



Dinner 

Supper 

Monday 

Beans V 4 funt 
Onions V30 » 

Oil 1 / 7 o » 

Monday 

Grits V4 funt 

Apricots Vs » 

Tuesday 

Meat V2 funt 

Potatoes V2 » 

Rice Ve » 

Onions V30 » 

Tuesday 

Potatoes V2 funt 
Tea 

Sugar V20 » 

Wednesday Cabbage V2 funt 
Carrots Vi » 
Onions V30 » 
Oil V70 A 

Wednesday Rice Vs funt 

Apricots Vs » 

Thursday 

Meat V2 funt 

Potatoes V2 » 
Onions V30 » 
Rice V 6 » 

Thursday 

Grits 1 k funt 

Oil V70 » 

Friday 

Beans Vi funt 
Onions V30 » 

Oil V70 » 

Friday 

Potatoes V2 funt 
Tea 

Sugar V20 » 

Saturday 

Meat V2 funt 

Potatoes V2 » 

Rice Ve » 

Onions V30 » 

Saturday 

Grits Vi funt 

Apricots Vs » 

Sunday 

Meat V 2 funt 

Cabbage V2 » 

Carrots V4 » 

Onions V30 » 

Sunday 

Cheese Vs funt 
Tea 

Sugar V20 » 

In addition each child gets 

V2 funt 

bread per day. A 


funt is a little under 14 ounces, about 9 /io of a pound. 


ROBERT COLLEGE RAISING FUND 
FOR LOCAL WORK 

Mrs. Richard Emrich spoke to 350 Robert College boys 
last Saturday on "The Hunger of the Childhood of Constan- 
tinople”, telling of the mental as well as the physical needs 
of the thousands of unfortunate children who are refugees in 
this City of Refugees. 

So interested were these young men that they immedi- 
ately formed a committee, which is now raising money 
among the students. Many of these boys are working their 
way through college, yet even they are finding ways and 
means to contribute. 

The fund is to be divided equally among Russians, 
Turks, Jews, Greeks and Armenians. The fund for the Rus- 
sians is to help feed 2800 under-fed children ; that for the 
Turks will go to Daoud Pasha Barracks, where over 1000 re- 
fugee children under twelve years of age need school equip- 
ment ; for the other three nationalities the money will send 
poor children to school at a cost of only fifty piasters a 
month. 

Mrs. Emrich will speak to the girls at Constantinople 
Woman's College next week. 


40 CHILDREN MADE HAPPY 

Mrs. L. H. Kenny, St. Louis, State Director for Eastern 
Missouri, has sent to us forty aprons, made by school child- 
ren in her district. In the pocket of every apron was a note 
from the dear little girl who made it, and some money. 

Forty happy Constantinople refugee children are now 
proudly wearing the aprons, pleased as Punch over the pock- 
ets, and eternally grateful to the American misses whose 
names they found in the pockets. These children in the 
Koum Kapou district are going to write letters of thanks to 
their generous American friends. 


CONSTANTINOPLE BUSINESS MEN 
BIG BROTHERS TO VICKREY HOME BOYS 

A group of enthusiastic business men are taking a keen 
interest in the Vickrey Home boys, who have jobs or who 
serve apprentice-ships in town, and then return to the Home 
at night. 

These men come to the Home during the evening to 
give informal talks on trades, commerce, business and ethics 
to the boys. They invite the youngsters to their homes for 
Sunday dinner, and in general are "Big Brothers.” One 
committee member, who had smoked for over thirty-five 
years, has given up cigarets, because be thinks it a bad 
example for "his boys.” 

The general morale of these working boys is improving 
every day, for there is nothing like an honest- to-goodness 
job to make a boy feel manly and self reliant. 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


N.E.R. FOOD SHIP REACHES BATOUM 

The S.S. "Allaguash,” carrying a cargo of 5,264 tons 
from Philadelphia to Batoum arrived January thirty-first, fif- 
ty-four days en route. 

Four days out from Philadelphia it encountered a terrific 
hurricane, "The worst I have experienced in twenty-five 
years,” said Capt. Nelson, and for twenty hours, captain, of- 
ficers, passengers and crew worked unceasingly. Some 3300 
army cots which were to have made orphans comfortable had 
to be thrown overboard, as the cargo was shifting danger- 
ously. Fortunately the loss is covered by insurance. The 
boat was obliged to put in to the Azores for two weeks for 
repairs after the storm. 

The cargo consisted principally of corn products, soap, 
flour, canned goods, and old clothes, generously donated by 
Pennsylvania and Middle West people. These badly needed 
supplies reach Armenia in time to save many an orphan and 
refugee from death by freezing and starvation. 

Mr. Frank Young, representative of the Philadelphia 
school children, and Mr. J. P. Mulvaney of the New York 
warehouse of the N.E.R. were passengersjon the "Allaguash.” 


STICK TO SKIRTS, GOILS 

Miss Mabelle Phillips, Orphanage Director at Djalal- 
Oghli, Caucasus, like most women workers there, wears a 
riding habit much of the time. 

The other day starting off_on mule-back to one of the 
villages in the district, she was stopped by Iproxi, the faithful 
handmaiden of the house, who rushed out to beg Miss Phil- 
lips not to wear riding breeches, because when she lived in 
Erzeroom she knew a woman who wore a riding habit regu- 
larly and who took small-pox and died ! 


NO WORK, NO FOOD 

{Extracts from letter of R. M. Davidson) 

Relief in the Djalal-Oghli District is based on the idea 
of a day's work for a day’s rations. Common labor is re- 
quired of all refugees physically able to work. Many of 
them, alas, underfed and undernourished, have not enough 
clothes to keep them warm when working out-of-doors in the 
freezing weather of that altitude. 

Besides doing the work required at the N.E.R. institu- 
tions, refugee labor is building walks, digging trenches for a 
prospective water system, razing unsightly ruins, and im- 
proving sanitation. The town will certainly be in better 
condition when the N.E.R. leaves than on its arrival. 

A ration has been carefully prepared for a single man, 
for a man with wife and child, and a ration for each addi- 
tional child. The plan is not approved by quite all the 
employes, but our ultimatum, like the Chinese laundryman's, 
•'No workee, no eatee,” keeps the wheels of industry moving. 


OLD CLOTHES HELP OUT AT KARAKLIS 

Sewing machines operated by twelve refugee sewing- 
women and four orphan girls are buzzing away at Karaklis. 
Thirty-six suits from the old clothes are re-made down to 
orphan size daily. At this rate the 1472 Karaklis orphans 
will soon be sporting American "glad rags.” 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Morris, Charles Dexter, of Olean, N.Y., arrived in Con- 
stantinople on Jan. 27 to take charge of the publicity activi- 
ties and news service of the organization. He is a Yale 
graduate who entered newspaper work on the New York Sun, 
later serving for several years with the headquarters offices of 
the Associated Press in New York. He came to Europe in 
1914 as a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press, and 
was attached to their London and Paris bureaus for the 
greater part of the war. He was with the British army on 
the French front for some time, and later with the Grand 
Fleet at Scapa Flow. After the American entry into the war, 
he became publicity director of the Red Cross in England, 
and for the past two years has been in charge of ARC pub- 
licity, photography and motion pictures throughout Eu- 
rope, with headquarters in Paris. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Announcement is made of the marriage of Dr. Joseph 
Spencer Stewart Jr. to Miss Marian Coker of Athens, Ga. Dr. 
Stewart had a tent colony in Derinje for some time, and then 
spent a year directing the hospital work in Diarbekir. 

Mr. H. C. Jaquith, Managing Director, is making a short 
business trip to Paris, Antwerp and Geneva. 

Miss A. H. Chickering (home address, Worcester, Mass.) 
has arrived from Samsoun, where she has been Treasurer 
since last April. 

Miss Ida Ash, formerly at Adana, has returned to her 
home in England. 

Miss Elizabeth Webb left on the Umbria last Sunday for 
Alexandrette and Adana. 

Mr. Byron M. Noone (home address, Haworth, N. J.), 
who has been a member of the Adana Unit, will leave shortly 
for Konia to assist Dr. Wm. S. Dodd. 

Capt. J. Dangerfield, who has been in the Caucasus dur- 
ing the past two and one half years, having come out with 
the Haskell Mission, has arrived in Constantinople. 

Mr. J. D. McNabb (home address, Washington) is tem- 
porarily replacing Capt. J. Dangerfield as District Commander 
at Karaklis, Armenia. 

^?Mr. Leon Myers, Lancaster, Pa., who has been Director 
of Warehouses in Derindje, has arrived in Constantinople. 


Printed by H. M ATTEOSI AN 
Bible House, Constantinople 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 6 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. February II, 1922 


ANN I1C T. ALLEN 

It is with deepest sorrow and a sense of great loss that 
we record the deatli of Miss Annie T. Allen, of the Near East 
Relief, at Sivas, Turkey, on the 2nd of February. The tele- 
gram from Sivas, bearing the sad news came as a great 
shock to all Americans in Turkey and to the people of this 
country for whom Miss Allen spent her life. 

The following official statement and tribute of Admiral 
Mark L. Bristol, American High Commissioner, Constan- 
tinople, well expresses the great loss which the Near East Re- 
lief feels in Miss Allen’s death : 

Admiral Bristol’s Tribute to Miss Allen 

“It is with deep sorrow that I must confirm the news 
of the death of Miss Annie T. Allen, of typhus, at Sivas, 
Turkey, February 2, 1922. She died at her post of duly. 

“In the season of the year that is most trying for the 
travellers in the interior of Anatolia, Miss Allen proceeded 
from Angora to Harpoot to investigate difficulties that had 
arisen between the Near East Relief workers and the local 
Government officials. 

“In the winter the roads are very bad and it is only pos- 
sible to use native carriages, which are very slow, and the 
weather is very cold with a great deal of snow that increases 
the difficulties of travelling. Outside of the Near East Re- 
lief stations for long distances there are no accommodations 
for those travelling except the native "hans." 

“It is no surprise to those who had the privilege of know- 
ing Miss Allen and her intrepid conscientious character that 
she should undertake in mid-winter a trip of over 1,000 miles 
through the interior of Anatolia with all its many hardships 
when it was a question of her duty to the Near East Relief 
Committee which she was representing in Angora in relation 
with the Turkish National Grand Assembly. 

“No particulars of her illness or death have been received, 
but from the circumstances reported that she arrived in Sivas 
ill with typhus, it is probable that she was travelling while 
already stricken with typhus. 

“I cannot pay too high a tribute to the noble character of 
Miss Annie T. Allen. During the three years that I have 
known her, I have marvelled at the courage and endurance 
that she has shown in travelling all over Anatolia in all sea- 
sons of the year in service for the sake of humanity in work- 
ing for the sick and destitute. §She was known throughout 
the country from the highest official to the lowest peasant. 


She travelled without fear because she did not know what 
fear was, but it was probable she would always be protected 
for the sake of herself. 

“Miss Allen was one of a family of missionaries well 
known for many years throughout Turkey. She was born in 
Harpoot and gave her life for the people in Asia Minor. 
Familiar with their languages, familiar with their lives, she 
was sympathetic with all, and, realizing this, she always receiv- 
ed a warm welcome wherever she went. She met her death 
in carrying on the work to which she had given her life. 

“The noble character of Miss Annie T. Allen, which was 
recognized and honored by all who had the pleasure to know 
her, was one that is rarely met with in this world. She was 
broad-minded and strong in her convictions, but those con- 
victions were based upon right. She was fearless in doing 
right because she thought right. It was a privilege to as- 
sociate with her because of the spirit of optimism which she 
had, and which was born of ideals practically applied. 

“I feel a deep personal loss-a loss which to the Near 
East Relief Committee, to the Missionary society to whi'ch 
she also belonged, and to American interests, is still greater. 

“One of the best friends that all the people of Asia Mi- 
nor had has passed to the Great Beyond. 

Mark L. Bi-istol'’ 

Miss Allen was born December 21, 1868, in Harpoot, 
Turkey, amd was the daughter of the Rev. Orson P. Allen, a 
member of the American Board of Foreign Missions. She 
was educated at Dana Hall, Wellestey, Mass., and at Mt. 
Holyoke College. For many years Miss Allen was the Prin- 
cipal of the American Girls' School at Brousa, and during the 
Balkan War and the Great War carried on relief for the war 
sufferers in the Brousa area. After the Armistice, Miss Allen 
refused a furlough to America because she felt so strongly 
the need and suffering in this country, and she became Di- 
rector of the Near East Relief in Brousa, also making inspec- 
tion tours to Near East Relief stations in the interior. Dur- 
ing the past year Miss Allen has been the Near East Relief 
representative in Angora and has carried on the work so well 
described in the tribute of Admiral Bristol. 

Miss Allen’s funeral took place on February 3rd at Sivas 
where she was buried beside Miss Mary L. Graffam. 

In the deaths of Miss Allen and Miss Graffam, the Near 
East Relief suffered two great losses. The members of the 
organization extend their heartfelt sympathy to Miss Allen’s 
relatives in America. 


— 


— 



2 NEAR EAST RELIEF 


NEAR EAST RELIEF IN ANCIENT JEBA1L 

In ancient Jebail, the port from which the cedars of Le- 
banon were shipped • for the Temple of Solomon, the city, 
noted for the stonecutters of Bible times, is one of the large 
orphanage centres of the Beirut Area of the Near East Relief. 

In this quaint port, in view of an old Crusader castle ( 
and the French excavations of ancient tombs, 600 Armenian 
boys are receiving very modern and up-to-date training. To 
enter the Near East orphanage compound is like entering a 
bit of America in an old-world setting. Mr. R. P. Travis, of 
Geneva, N.Y., and Miss M. Ward, of Boston, are the Amer- 
icans in charge of this home of boys. 

An abandoned silk mill, surrounded by residences, makes 
up the orphanage compound, and it is of interest to see what 
the Near East Relief has done with the property at small ex- 
pense. The long building, which once held the machinery 
for preparing the cocoons for silk, makes an ideal dining 
room and school as well as a dormitory at night. Two nar- 
row raised platforms, part of the silk factory equipment, run- 
ning the length of the room, serve the purpose of tables, 
study desks in the daytime, and mattresses are unrolled upon 
them at night. Only a few benches were necessary to turn 
the silk mill into a boarding school. The boys study part of 
the day and the other half is spent in working at a trade. 

The bakeshop, near the sea, is a most attractive place. 
Here a number of the older boys, in spotless white 
caps and aprons, bake 5000 large buns daily to feed the fa- 
mily. The bakers are such splendid looking chaps in their 
spotless kitchen that it is fascinating to watch them quickly 
mould the dough and push it into the deep ovens. No one 
wishes to leave without sampling the hot crisp-crusted buns. 

The athletic drill at this orphanage is really remarkable 
and shows great work and patience upon the part of the 
trainer. Breathing, neck, finger, wrist, etc., exercises are 
practised daily in the open air with the result that the hos- 
pital on the hill is usually empty and the heart and lung tests 
of the boys come very high. The drill is carried on with 
such precision that a movement of the head to one side gives 
the effect of long lines of black hair, and 1200 boys' hands> 
moving in perfect unison, make an unusual sight. 

This quiet uniform life is a pleasing change for the boys. 
They were first gathered together in Aleppo, Syria. In the 
autumn of 1919, they moved to Aintab and mained there 
during the long-trying Aintab seige. Finally there was an 
opportunity to leave for Beirut. 

The boys take a great interest n the orphanage com- 
pound because they have repaired the buildings themselves, 
prepared the mortar and stones'for the building of additions, 
and rolled and graded their own athletic grounds. The or- 
phanage as it is today is the foundation of a fine piece of 
constructive work. If funds are only forthcoming to keep it 
going for a few more years, the result will be 600 splendid 
citizens with high ideals, a spirit of unselfishness, and trained 
for work. 


TWO HUNDRED LITTLE GIRLS LIVING IN 
DESERTED BAZAARS 

The picturesque shopkeepers of Erivau have left their 
bazaars because there is no more demand for silks, em- 
broideries, perfumes, spices, and all the other fascinating 
articles found in an oriental bazaar. The dim-lighted roofed 
streets, once gay with color, are deserted as far as trade is 
concerned but they are serving a new purpose. Over two 
hundred little girls and two hundred little boys have found 
shelter in the deserted bazaar booths. The following are 
extracts from a report of Mr. C. F. Rowland, Superintendent 
of the Near East Relief Refugee Department, Erivan : 

“Two hundred and twenty three orphan girls who had 
been living in the streets and bazaars of Erivan have become 
Near East Relief orphans and are now in their new home at 
Etchmiadzin. The majority of the girls are about ten years 
of age. 

“Dr. Elliott, Director of the Near East Relief Medical 
Department, who went to Etchmiadzin for medical inspection, 
made the following statement: 'The orphan girls have been 

received just in time. I do not see how they could have 
existed one week longer.’ Dr. Elliott sent the sick, under- 
nourished children to the Etchmiadzin hospital which has 
just been opened in connection with the new orphanage. 

“By opening this new orphanage, we have cleared the 
streets and bazaars of Erivan of girl orphans for the present. 
By next week we hope to have quarters for the two hundred 
boys who are still in the bazaars." 


200,000 IN NEED OF FOOD AND CLOTHES 

There are two hundred thousand people within a radius 
of one hundred miles of Erivan who are in great need of food 
and clothing. Of course it is impossible for the Near East 
Relief to even consider extending relief to such a great num- 
ber, with the other demands on our budget, but nevertheless 
that is the number who should be aided by some one. 

The program which this department adopted some weeks 
ago to clothe every ragged child in Erivan is progressing as 
rapidly as possible. A new soup kitchen to feed one thou- 
sand children daily was opened New Year’s day. The kitchen 
gives each child a bowl of hot soup and one-half funt of 
bread. The children to be fed at this soup kitchen belong 
to famiiies in Erivan who are too poor to provide them with 
even one nourishing meal a day. 

C. F. Rowland 

Superintendent Refugee Dept. Erivan, 


— 


- ■ 


— 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


ERL VAN ORPHANSjFORM BOY SCOUT PATROLS 

Boys will be boys, and far-off Armenian youngsters are 
just as keen about Boy Scout organizations as are their more 
fortunate American friends. 

274 older boys in the Erivan orphanages are having a 
great time learning all about scout lore, "while at the same time 
building strong healthy bodies from their once undernourish- 
ed frames. 210 of them have passed the tenderfoot scout 
tests and are on the second tests, while 64 have just begun the 
tenderfoot tests. 

All the boys get gymnastic exercises. Football was start- 
ed before cold weather came, fifteen boys are training for 
boxing and wrestling, and there is a band patrol, and a paint- 
ing patrol. ^The latter is busy decorating the orphanage walls. 


48 ORPHANS MAILING GOOD AT 
ROBERT COLLEGE 

Mr. Nynas, who is in charge of the forging class of 48 
Kouleli orphan boys at Robert College, is delighted with his 
students. 

Never have there been students more industrious and 
eager to learn, he says. They come marching up the big 
hill promptly at nine, and pound away at the forges until 
iong after the noon whistle blows. In fact, Mr. Nynas has to 
turn off the blasts to stop them working, and even then they 
keep on hammering until their irons are cold. 

These boys are making good on the job, and will be a 
credit to the Americans whose help has enabled them to 
learn a trade at which they can make a good living. 


PROSPEROUS RELATIVES HELPING 
NEEDY RELATIVES THROUGH 
IN DIVIDUAL REMITTANCES 

Miss Nancy Benson, in charge of Individual Remittances, 
is proud of her department. She has some impressive 
figures which show the great amount of help given to indi- 
viduals who have made use of our Individual Remittance or- 
ganization to send money to their relatives and friends in 
various points in the Near East. 

She has received from America during the year 1921, 
1678 separate remittances, totalling $155,691.56. Besides 
this, remittances have come to her from points here in the 
Near East, for transmission to other points inaccessible to 
banks, amounting to even a greater number of items, -1867, 
The total of these local remittances has amounted to Ltqs. 
133,085.23, only about half of the actual money represented 
by the remittances from America ; but it must be remembered 


3 


that the donors of these local remittances have made far 
greater sacrifices to help their unfortunate people, and Miss 
Benson has taken just as much care to pay a ten lira remit- 
tance as a hundred dollar remittance. 

These 1678 persons in America and 1867 in the Near East 
area are a striking proof, if proof were needed, of the efforts 
which the various nationalities in the Near East make to re- 
lieve the needs of their less fortunate relatives and friends. 

It is a real service that the Near East Relief can perform, 
and the Individual Remittance Department is happy to be in 
a position to help. 

A NEW ‘ CHILDS” RESTAURANT 
IN THE CAUCASUS 

(From report By Miss Janet MacKay, Alexandropol) 

“ Alexatidropol, Jan. 13 th, 1922 

“We have such a big family, 2000 children in our three 
buildings, that it is a feat to serve three meals a day by day- 
light. Our present dining room facilities are extremely 
limited -five relays of children for each meal. In a week, 
however, we hope to celebrate by moving into our spacious 
new dining room in which we can serve 1000 children at a 
sitting. I hope Captain Yarrow will be present at this grand 
occasion. ‘Childs' will be vividly portrayed- it will be 
literally a child's restaurant." 


NOTES FROM SEVERSKY BARRACKS, 
ALEXANDROPOL 

Miss “Jimmie” MacFettridge has manifold duties-sec- 
retary to the District Commander, transportation officer, as 
well as general typist for the entire post. To save time in 
typewriting orders, she has worked out a very swift stable 
call whereby a horse or sleigh can be ordered three minutes 
from the time the request is made in the office. The order 
is given to one of the orphan boy guards who in turn gives 
a weird call which is passed from one boy to another until 
it reaches the stable -half a mile distant. 

Miss Pauline Jordan is in charge of the Industrial Plant 
which is very well managed. Several weeks ago there was 
a great shortage of children's clothes, owing to the new or- 
phans entering the orphanage and the great need of the district 
for warm clothes. Many poor little waifs, shivering in the 
cold, were deplorable sights. Frozen feet with no stockings 
added greatly to the problem. A temporary building was 
rented and coats were turned out in large numbers. The 
children are now fairly well equipped, and one factory has 
been closed down to save expense. 

Dr. Uhls is happy because his operating room is at last 
in full sway. He is contemplating taking the blind children 
from Karaldis in the very near future. Several of the children 


'Jr- 

/' 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


are to receive operations with the hope of restoring partial 
sight. The little house which is eventually to be for Amer- 
ican personnel is to be given over to these children until 
another building is ready. 

Mrs. Uhls, in her very able manner, carries the duties of 
hospital superintendent most efficiently. Always the right 
hand in medical work, she has shown remarkable executive 
ability.” 

The scabies orphanage occupants are undergoing drastic 
treatment with marvelous and encouraging results, the num- 
ber being reduced from 600 to 200 in three weeks. 

We now have a central bath, the workings of which would 
be a rare advertisement for Pears Soap or in fact any brand 
of soap — we are using several varieties. 

Mr. R. H. Anderson continues to make rapid progress in 
construction. He is now able to devote most of his time to 
it, having turned over Finance and Supplies to Mr. J. R. Wood 
who is now deep in the intricacies attached to debit and credit. 

- Janet Mckay 

Orphanage Manager, Seversky Barracks 


AN ORPHANAGE IN AN ORANGE GROVE 

We are glad to state that we have orphanages in the 
south in orange groves as well as in the winter snows of the 
Caucasus. It was a pleasant surprise for a Near East Relief 
worker from the north to visit Dr. Hamilton's Near East Re- 
lief orpanage near Beirut, situated in a grove of oranges. 
The visit was made in early January, and the trees were yellow 
with fruit. A crowd of happy little girls were playing around 
the old fountain and one could easily forget that they were 
orphans or that the place was an orphanage. 

Dr. Hamilton is returning shortly to her work in Aintab, 
and the girls of her orphanage will join one of the large 
Beirut orphanage centres which are being organized as a 
means of cutting down expenses. The children are dreading 
Dr. Hamilton's departure because she has made the orphan- 
age a real home. 


CROSSES OF THE LEGION OF HONOR 

The Cross of the Legion of Honor has recently been 
awarded by the French Government to Miss Anne E. McIn- 
tyre of New York, and Dr. Hugh W. Bell of Crafton, Pa., of 
the Near East Relief. The French Government presented 
these decorations in recognition of their work in caring for 
French wounded and their courage in carrying on human- 
itarian work at interior stations of the Near East Relief in the 
Beirut Area. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Beach, (Bangor, Maine) sailed Feb- 
ruary 9th for Samsoun on their way to the Sivas Unit. Mr. 


and Mrs. Beach have previously spent two years in Near 
East Relief work in the interior of Turkey. They have re* 
turned from America to again carry on the work. 

Mr. James E. Van Toor, of Milwaukee, Wis., sailed from 
Constantinople, February 8th, and is returning to the United 
States via Naples, Spain and Paris. He is expecting to make 
a walking trip from Granada to Seville. Mr. Van Toor joined 
the Near East Relief in 1920 and since that date has directed 
Near East Relief work in Adana, Ismid and Samsoun. He 
edited the Near East Relief Weekly and handled publicity 
during the vacation of Miss Caris E. Mills. 

Mr. Byron M. Noone (Haworth, N. J.), left for the Konia 
Unit of the Near East Relief, February 8th. Mr. Noone is a 
member of the Leviathan party of 250 Near East workers 
who arrived in Constantinople in March, 1919. He directed 
and made a great success of the large N.E.R. — Y.M.C.Ai 
Camp for orphan boys at Adana last summer. 

Miss Elsie Gunther (Leonia, N.J.) left via theyOrient 
Express, February 4th, returning to the United. States on ac- 
counl of the sudden illness of her mother. 

Miss Grace Blackwell (Hamilton Square, N.J.), Miss Mary 
Louise Morton (New York City), and Miss Caris E. Mills 
(Princeton, N.J.) returned Monday, February 6th, from a leave 
of absence in Syria, Palestine and Egypt. Miss Blackwell 
sailed February 10th for the Caucasus Area where she will be 
connected with the medical department in Alexandropol. 
For more Ilian a year, Miss Blackwell has been in charge of 
the Samsoun Hospital of the Near East Relief. 

Mr. Charles D. Morris sailed February 10th for tempo- 
rary work in the Caucasus Area. 

Mr. L. J. Richards, of the Constantinople Financial De- 
partment, is temporarily at the Rodosto Unit. 

Miss L. Elizabeth Morgan (Wilkes Barre, Pa.), of the 
Harpoot Unit, has been sent to Sivas to help relieve the 
over-worked medical department at that Unit. 

Dr. Ruth Parmelee (Boston, Mass.), Miss Isabelle Harley 
(Rhode Island), Miss Rebecca Parker (Pomerania, N.J ), and 
Mr. George Garside (Passaic, N.J.) left the Harpoot Unit for 
Constantinople, January 26th. They are travelling via Aleppo. 

Miss Janet MacNaughton is now in charge of the Post 
Office in the Near East Relief Headquarters, Constantinople. 

Miss Mae Schenck (Buffalo, N.Y.) who returned to Am- 
erica in November, is expected at the Near East Relief Head- 
quarters, Constantinople, this month. 

Miss Stella Campbell (Little Rock, Ark.) and Miss Marie 
Cyr (Van Buren, Maine), are returning shortly to the United 
States via France. They have been travelling with Miss 
Caris E. Mills through Syria, Palestine and Egypt. Four 
days were spent in the Beirut Area visiting the splendid 
Near East Relief orphanages. They were in Beirut for the 

party given by the Beirut personnel to bid farwell to Ma- 
jor Nicol and welcome Mr. McAfee who is succeeding Major 
Nicol as Managing Director. 


Printed by H. MATTEOSIAN 
Bible House, Constantinople 


"\ 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 7 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. February 18, 1922 


APPALLING CONDITIONS IN ERI VAN 

(By C. F. Rowland, Superintendent Refugee Relief, Erivan). 

One really must visit a famine-stricken country and see 
with his own eyes before he can realize the mental and 
physical suffering that the inhabitants of such a district are 
undergoing. In the vicinity of Erivan, it is a common sight 
to see children hunting in the muddy gutters for apple cores 
or anything that at one time resembled food, -little boys and 
girls sleeping in dirty stables covering themselves with earth 
and straw to keep warm, village peasants leaving their homes 
and starling for the over-crowded cities only to find on their 
arrival that there is no food to be had. 

To take care of all these children and those coming into 
the city each day from the famine-stricken villages, the Near 
East Relief in Erivan would need twice the number of build- 
ings which they now occupy. We already have twenty-five 
buildings, but with the crowded condition of the city, it 
is almost impossible to obtain extia space. Every Near 
East Relief orphanage is filled to the utmost, and a thousand 
children are being fed each day in the Near East Relief can- 
teen while waiting for a place in one of the orphanages. 
The halls of the orphanages are crowded with mattresses 
at night to make room for a "few more” who were taken 
in after all beds had been filled. 

Several days ago some of our orphans, suffering from 
tuberculosis, were sent to our tuberculosis hospital up in the 
mountains. To fill their places, ten children were picked 
from the streets. They were all so weak that they could 
hardly walk to the Near East orphanage and one was so far 
gone that she died before the night was over. Practically all 
the children taken in from the streets are suffering from 
various forms of skin diseases in addition to being under- 
nourished. 

In order to try and cope with the present situation, we 
have opened the new orphanage at Etchmiadzin in one of the 
monastery buildings — but we find that we can overfill this 
building with homeless children in the streets of Etchmiadzin 
and children living even within the gates of the monastery. 

The Government is maintaining some orphanages, but 
with its limited resources, both in food and money, it can do 
very little to ward off the dreadful suffering which is bound 
to occur in the spring. The Near East Relief must open 
a great number of new orphanages in this district to save the 
thousands of children who are slowly starving to death. 


A DINING ROOM WHICH 
SERVES 4000 CHILDREN AT ONE SITTING 

\ V 

Visitors at the Polygon Near East Relief orphanage, Al- 
exandropol, are always keenly interested in seeing 4000 boys 
lined up at the tables at meal time. At the middle of the build- 
ing is the kitchen where stoves holding sixteen huge kettles are 
situated. Pure water, carried from a spring on a distant moun- 
tain, is conveyed through pipes to each kettle. A well organiz- 
ed group of older boys prepare the meals. Extending north 
and south from the kitchen are the two great white walled 
wings, containing the necessary lines of tables, at which 
there is room for the big family of 4000 at one sitting. 

400 Garments Produced daily at tlie Polygon 
Sewing Room 

The days when the Polygon boys go about look- 
ing like animated ragbags are numbered. They are already 
quite well supplied with cotton flannel underwear -and the 
suits and overcoats are following at a good pace. The aver- 
age number of garments produced daily is 400. Ninety pairs 
of stockings is the daily output -including those knitted 
by machines operated by orphan boys. 

F. P. Margerum, 
District Commander, Polygon. 


MAJOR NICOLS WITHDRAWAL AS 
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE BEIRUT AREA 

On January 2nd, a number of Near East Relief personnel 
of the Beirut Area, met at the Near East Relief personnel house 
to bid farwell to Major J. H. Nicol as Managing Director of 
the Beirut Area and Chairman of the Administrative Board, 
and to welcome Mr. Horward B. McAfee as the new Manag- 
ing Director. This is the second time that Major Nicol has 
made the attempt to resign from the Near East Relief and 
return to his educational work. His first withdrawal took 
place in November, 1920, when Mr. Bayard Dodge took over 
the work. Beirut University later requested the return of Mr. 
Dodge to his college work and Major Nicol stepped back to 
help out in the emergency. The Near East Relief has been 
fortunate in making it impossible for him to resign until the 
present time. 

Major Nicol’s Speech 

At the reception Major Nicol was called upon to speak ( 
and the following are extracts from his address : 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


"I am glad of this opportunity to thank the Administra- 
tive Committee and the personnel for their continued con- 
fidence and cooperation. I wish also to state that there are 
two sets of people in the Beirut Area who should have the 
credit for all that has been dope for the Near East Relief. 
The first group is the enlisted personnel from America and 
England who have taken the leadership in many of the sta- 
tions. There have been few failures among the personnel in 
the Beirut Area, and the majority have been self-sacrificing, 
concientious workers. In this district alone we have had 
three hundred and fifty. The other group about whom we 
should, not be silent are the helpers, associates and colleagues 
among the natives of this country. Any one who knows 
anything about work in Syria realizes that the work could not 
have been carried out without the help of the people of Syria. 

“The Beirut Area had almost reached the point of con- 
centrating entirely upon an orphanage program when the re- 
cent refugees from Cilicia arrived. It will be necessary for 
us to do emergency work for them until they become in some 
way independent. 

“It is very gratifying to know that the new Managing 
Director, Mr. Howard B. McAfee, has at heart the matter of 
right child training. He has not only the matter at heart but he 
has had the preparation of long years for this special kind of 
work for children. Park College, Missouri, was founded by 
Mr. McAfee's father in order to offer a high grade classical 
as well as industrial education for boys and girls without 
money, and for more than thirty years Mr. McAfee has car- 
ried on the work which his father started. 

“At the beginning of the Near East Relief work, I had 
the privilege of aiding in gathering together thousands of 
homeless hungry children, and it has long been our desire 
in the Beirut Area to keep these children in large model or- 
phanage centers- but the demands have been so great that it 
kept us busy merely feeding and clothing them. We even 
had the dream of a great orphanage city. Mr. Stuart Jessup 
used to write on inter-orphanage paper : 

From : Stuart Iessup, 

To : Major Nicol, 

Subject : The Great Idea, 

and the ‘Great Idea’ was to build an orphanage city. We 
had even chosen the site which was in a beautiful valley the 
other side of Sidon with gardens and waving corn. There 
were to be shops and schools. The older children would go 
to the shops and the little children to schools, and the slogan 
was to turn a seeming liability into an asset by making a 
self-supporting community of good citizens. The nearest 
we have come to it is what we are doing at Sidon where we 
have a large orphanage centre and the children are receiving 
the best industrial training and education we can give. 

“I regret to state at this time that one of our best workers, 
Dr. Caroline Hamiton, who has done loyal service for the 
orphans, is returning to iler former work in Aintab. We 
yyish to tell her just how much we appreciate her loyal ser- 
vice to the orphan girls. 


“As for myself, I wish to express to you and through 
you to all people who are connected with the Near East Re- 
lief, a real sense of gratitude in having been able to serve in 
this way the children of the Near East, and I have no inten- 
tion of giving this work up as a thing to be pushed aside but 
as something which must be reluctantly given up because of 
the pressure of other duties — something to be prized in the 
future in remaining with it, even in a humble way, as a 
member of the Committee. 

“I am not sentimental but I wish to thank the personnel 
for their almost loving cooperation.” 

Professor Julius A. Brown, the new Chairman of the 
Administrative Board of the Beirut Area, expressed the re- 
gret of the Administrative Board upon Major Nicol's with- 
drawal, and he called upon Mr. Bayard Dodge to read a vote 
which had been unanimously passed by every member of the 
Board. The following are extracts from the vote: 

Tribute of the Administrative Board to Major Nicol’s 

Administration 

“During the three years of Major Nicol’s administration, 
the relief work in Syria has been developed in a remarkably 
constructive way. With extraordinary energy, Major Nicol 
re-organized the whole system of relief which had been start- 
ed while the war was still being fought. Many soup kitchens 
and centers for industrial work were opened. Free medical 
aid was arranged and hospital facilities were provided at con- 
venient localities. In cooperation with the Army of Occupa- 
tion, thousands of homeless children were given shelter in 
the orphanages. 

“The Committee wish to take this opportunity to ex- 
press their high appreciation of Major Nicol’s masterly ad- 
ministrative qualities throughout this period of service. With 
great vigor and executive force, he has directed the highly 
complicated activities of a vast organization, extending from 
Port Said in the south' to Diarbekir, more than 650 miles to 
the north. He has expended the relief funds so as to secure 
the greatest possible results from this generous contribution 
of the American people ... He has insisted upon the ut- 
most economy in order that money given for the poor might 
not be misspent, and has urged members of the Staff to show 
genuine unselfishness in their mode of living and demands 
for financial remuneration. He himself has set a splendid 
example by refusing a salary higher than that of a mission- 
ary and by contenting himself with the simplest means of 
transport and conditions of travel. 

"In giving relief, Major Nicol has avoided everything 
that might contribute to pauperizing the people. As quickly 
as the beneficiaries of the work were able to care for them- 
selves, aid was withdrawn. As far as possible he has con- 
fined relief in the Beirut Area to the caring for such children 
as could not be provided for in any other way. The work 
has not been limited to the physical needs of the children 
but has been planned so that it would bear fruit in the de- 
velopment of character, and loyally uphold the broad unde- 
nominational principles of the Near East Relief. 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


3 


“Thousands of people in Syria today owe a large part of 
their material and moral well-being to Major Nicol’s un- 
flinching devotion and never failing sagacity. He is leaving 
to his successor, Mr. Howard B. McAfee, some six thousand 
little boys and girls who have been saved from destitution 

and started on the way to useful living under his able man- 
agement ...” 

Mr. McAfee was called upon for a speech, and the follow- 
ing remarks, are a part of li is very earnest address: “I have 
just returned from a trip through the Beirut Area, visiting the 
various stations and orphanages, and I feel it a great privilege 
and honor to be chosen to take up the work which Major 
Nicol is leaving. I feel deeply the responsibility entrusted 
to me, and hope that I may carry on satisfactorily the work 
which has been developed to the present high standard. 
I look upon the orphanages not merely as temporary homes 
for the children but as plants for producing a product of 
boys and girls, trained for good citizenship, with an un- 
selfish and helpful attitude towards the community and 
country in which they are to live . . .” 


CONDITIONS IN TREBIZOND 

(By James H. Crutcher, 

Director, Near East Relief, Trebizond) 

The needs here in Trebizond among the refugees are 
much greater than they were last month, owing to the fact 
that several new refugees have arrived. I wish it were pos- 
sible to increase our bread line so that these refugees, who 
are in the most wretched condition, could at least receive 
one quarter of an oke of bread daily. 

Beginning January 1st, the Near East Relief opened a bread 
depot, giving daily 225 okes of bread, and dividing it evenly 
between the refugees of each nationality. One oke is divided 
among four people. The Greek refugees in Trebizond greatly 
exceed those of other nationalities so I have managed through 
some of the Greek citizens to raise funds locally to help 
meet the need. Refugees are coming into Trebizond daily at 
the rate of from fifteen to twenty families. They are travel- 
ling by foot and arrive with absolutely nothing. 

During the month of January we gave out old clothing 
to the value of liras 1576.08, as well as milk, soap, and 
medical supplies. Our old clothing is just about exhausted. 
It is the main need in Trebizond as the refugees arrive in rags. 

There has been a small epidemic of smallpox in this 
city. During the past week the Hygiene Director has had 
all refugees vaccinated, and the sanitary officials are taking 
precautions to stop the spreading of the disease. 


MEDICAL WORK IN CESAREA FOR DECEMBER 

The Talas Clinic has cared for 1733 patients during 
December -953 surgical cases and 750 medical cases, as well 
as treating 1205 eye cases. 1393 have received treatment at the 
Cesarea clinic and 193 have been cared for in their homes. 


A clinic and hospital are being carried on at Evkere 
where 121 medical, 75 surgical, and 206 eye cases were treated 
in December. 

The patients treated at these clinics are the refugees and 
poor of all nationalities in the Cesarea district. 

An epidemic of typhus fever broke out in the Evkere 
orphanage and two experienced nurses were sent from the 
Talas hospital to take charge of the cases. The nurses have 
been able to stop the disease from spreading and it is hoped 
that it will soon be stamped out. 

Lillian Cole Sewny 


WHEAT SPROUTING AT NEAR EAST 
RELIEF FARM, RODOSTO 

“Washington Farm,” the name chosen by the refugees 
for the Near East farm at Rodosto, is making rapid progress. 
The first wheat planted is now ■ two inches high, and the 
fields are watched by the ex-refugee farmers with great ex- 
citement. The coming crops mean independence to them. 

The 400 ex-refugees are from three different villages - 
Adabazar, Armash, and Khatchkeuy, and there is great rivalry 
between the three groups to produce the best crops, do the 
most ploughiug, and create improvements. Even the small 
boys, under the direction of the Farm Manager, a Russian 
Armenian, are making gardens with hand ploughs after 
school hours. 

These farm people have piped the water from the spring 
to the large fountain in the farm courtyard which is a great 
saving of labor. Previous to this the water was carried in 
gasoline tins from the spring a quarter of a mile distant. 
A blacksmith shop, which might be called a machine shop, 
keeps the farm implements in repair aiujl gives work to two 
village blacksmiths. To date, over 2000 denims have been 
ploughed and planted with wjieat, garlic, onions, barley, and 
peas. Every day, when ploughing is possible, the farmers 
are working overtime preparing the land for spring crops. 

Seeds for spring corn, oats, and vegetables have already been 
issued. 

New Year’s night at this farm was very impressive. The 
farm people met together and gave thanks that the old year 
and the life in the refugee camp had passed and that the New 
Year found them on the farm again with a bright outlook 
ahead. On New Year's Day they arose at daybreak and 
commenced the New Year by working in the fields. 

From pale faced families, huddled together in a small 
space on the floor of a refugee camp, these people have 
changed to healthy sturdy farmers, and they are impatiently 
awaiting the day when they will receive the first money for 
their crops and be able to pay for their own supplies. 


A DAY WITH DR. E. R. GRAFF AT DELLTAN 

Would you like to know how a day is spent at Delijan 
at the new Near East Relief Tubercular Sanitarium in the 
Caucasus Area ? Sometimes it seems as if the days were 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


filled with minor details, and yet all are working toward the 
goal of a completed sanatarium for our tubercular children. 

Our day begins with sounds from our orphan "kitchen 
police." (You know Miss Fanny Strowger sent us some or- 
phan girls to work in the kitchen and laundry.) This is soon 
followed by the voices of the waking children. At 7 o'clock 
the first squad marches past my door to breakfast. 

My own breakfast is hardly finished when a knock at 
the door ushers in one of the men with a problem of con- 
struction on our new buildings. They sent for much needed 
boards yesterday afternoon, but the boards are not yet finish- 
ed at the sawmill. 

As the routine of the hospital is getting under way -the 
native doctor making rounds, the nurses making up their diet 
slips from his orders, the storeroom manager weighing out 
rations for the day, the fires being made, the girls getting to 
work in the laundry — I make rounds of our other buildings 
with Miss Katherine Pellou, our American head nurse. 

The need was so great for a place for these children that 
we moved in before the buildings were finished. The kitchen 
stove, however, is now functioning well and the cement is 
ready for the kitchen floor. Six more windows are in and 
the glass man is at work today. 

Returning to our first hospital, I look into the sick ward. 
They are all feeling'better. The surgical nurse is dressing 
the wounds of her kiddies. One little red headed girl talks 
Russian and I manage a few words. Then another child 
puts in a few words in English, and a little Armenian girl 
says "shad lav” (thank you). 

By this time the other children are in school — a very 
simple process without books. However we have invented a 
blackboard and the teachers are resourceful, • I shall be glad 
when our school can be out of doors. At present we have 
no suitable place and hardly enough warm clothing to keep 
the children warm in the room we are forced to use. 

At 2 o'clock a boy comes to tell me that Dr (the 

chief health doctor of the district) and the wood commissaries 
have come to take me to the “district" given to us for cutting 
firewood. There has been a question as to location so we 
mount our horses and ride through the beautiful gorge toward 
Erivan. Part of the road is so covered with ice that it is dif- 
ficult even for ox-carts, and our horses slip. We finally decide 
on a district near the orphanage for cutting the firewood 
which is satisfactory to both parties. 

While we are out we run up to the sawmill and get a 
promise of boards tomorrow. When we return the kiddies 
are getting ready for supper. They tell me in Armenian and 
sign language that they do not wish to have their hair clipped 
again — of course they are girls. 

And now my day at Delijan, far away in the Caucasus, is 
ending in front of my fire — and so good night. 

Elsie Richards Graff 


Printed by H. MATTEOSIAN 
Bible House, Constantinople 


CAPTAIN E. A YARROW AND MRS. VERONICA 
E. HARRIS RECEIVE DECORATIONS 

His Holiness, Kevork V., Catholicos of all the Armenians, 
has bestowed upon Captain E. A. Yarrow, Director General, 
Near East Relief, Caucasus Branch, the Patriarchal decora- 
tion of “Saint Gregory the Illuminator," first grade, gold and 
jewelled, and upon Mrs. Veronica E. Harris, Assistant Direc- 
tor General, Near East Relief, Caucasus Branch, the Patriarchal 
decoration of "Saint Gregory the Illuminator,” second grade. 

These decorations were bestowed, to quote the words of 
His Holiness, Kevork V., “in recognition of their praiseworthy 
efforts on behalf of Armenians ; for strenuous work and self- 
sacrificing spirit shown in the care, protection and education 
of many thousands of orphan boys and girls in our country 
of Armenia, and for the aid given to our suffering refugees." 

Captain E. A. Yarrow, Director General, Caucasus 
Branch, Near East Relief, has for seven years been connected 
with war relief work in Siberia and the Caucasus, and pre- 
vious to this spent twelve years in educational work in Van, 
Turkey. He was a Staff Officer of Col. Haskell’s Mission to 
the Caucasus, and succeeded Col Haskell as Director General, 
Caucasus Branch, Near East Relief. Four Russian decora- 
tions have also been presented to Captain Yarrow. 

Mrs. Veronica E. Harris, Assistant Director General, 
Caucasus Branch of. the Near East Relief, was the first woman 
signed up with the Quartermaster's Corps of the American 
Army in 1917 for work in France, and later became one of 
the secretaries and reporters for ihe Peace Commission, 
Paris. She was also connected with the American Relief Ad- 
ministration in the section in charge of the feeding of Ger- 
many and Finland. Mrs. Harris joined the Near East Relief 
in 1919 and since that date has been connected with the Cau- 
casus Branch, 


P E R S 0 N N E L N 0 T E S 

Mr. B. L. Horn (Athens, Ohio) has been appointed 
District Commander, Kazachi Post, Alexandropol, Caucasus 
Area. 

Mr. J. F. Dangerfield sailed from Constantinople, Feb- 
ruary 16th. Mr. Dangerfield has been connected with the 
Caucasus Area for nearly three years. 

Mr. Louis A. Parker, (Goliad, Texas) Caucasus Area, 
who has been connected with the Department of Finance and 
Supply, Tiflis Headquarters, has been assigned to the District 
of Djelal-Oghlu, Caucasus Area. 

Mr. Dudley P. Lewis (Princeton, Mass.) has been ap- 
pointed District Commander of the District of Erivan, 
Caucasus Area. 

Mr. Milton D. Brown has been appointed Director of 
Orphanages and Schools, Tiflis Headquarters, Caucasus Area. 

Mr. Thomas Mills (New York City) has been appointed 
temporarily official photographer, Caucasus Area. 




Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Voi. IV. No. 8 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboui, Constantinople. February 25, 1922 


CABLEGRAM FROM CAUCASUS OUTLINING 
SERIOUS CONDITIONS 

The following cablegram was received February 22nd by 
the Near East Relief, Constantinople, from Captain E. A. 
Yarrow, Director General, Caucasus Branch, concerning the 
serious situation in the Caucasus Area of the Near East Relief : 

“Tiflis Government here today issued following formal 
decree setting forth critical famine situation throughout Geor- 
gia, directing all Governmental Departments concentrate on 
single task meeting famine: ‘Large part population Georgian 
Republic threatened starvation, crops everywhere failure, 
people West Georgia already exhausted all food stocks, while 
situation East Georgia only little less serious. Government 
will do all in power to purchase food supplies abroad although 
this difficult owing unfavorable money exchange. All official 
departments are directed inaugurate strictest measures for 
conservation of food. They have authorized collection gems 
wherewith food supplies can be purchased. Government 
will place at disposal famine relief all available resources of 
money and goods but people must realize the resources of 
the Government are inadequate to meet situation. All must 
realize danger very great and famine threatens each and 
every one. Let all join in determined effort meet situation.’ 
Similar decree issued at Erivan last week by Armenian 
Government.” 


FIGHTING FOR WORK 

(Extract from letter of Miss Pauline Jordan, Jan. 17, 1922 ) 

“It has been a very hard winter for the poor in Alexan- 
dropol in spite of the Near East Relief program. I think I 
wrote you that I was appointed Superintendent of Education 
and Industry. When I opened the first shop for making 
clothes for the orphans, the street in front of the building 
was choked with women looking for work. They clutched 
at my skirts, begged and cried, and several times the guard 
had to drag me through the crowd by main force. 1 remember 
one woman in particular. She wore old sacks for clothing 
and she begged daily for work. The orphans, however, were 
badly in need of warm clothing, and we were forced to choose 
only the best sewers to push the work ahead. Lack of work 
is perhaps the saddest part of present conditions. So many 
are willing to work but cannot obtain it.” 



EIGHT HUNDRED AMERICAN TOURISTS IN 
CONSTANTINOPLE AID REFUGEES 


The “Empress of Scotland,” carrying the largest party 
of American tourists since the war, sailed into the harbor of 
Constantinople at 5 p.rn., February 23rd. The ship anchor- 
ed out in the Bosphorus, and the passengers remained on 
board the first evening to hear the very interesting lecture 
on “Constantinople” by Professor E. J. Fisher of Robert Col- 
lege. 

Professor Fisher told in a very vivid way the fascinating 
history of the places of interest in this ancient city, touching 
upon the present distressing conditions of the 122, COO ref- 
ugees of various nations quartered here, and the great work 
of the relief organizations in trying to meet the vast need. 
Col. A. T. Beckwith, British Representative in the Turkish 
War Office, then spoke in behalf of Moslem Refugees, mak- 
ing an appeal for funds to meet the present emergency. Dr. 
W. W. Peet, Chairman of the Administrative Committee of 
the Near East Relief, and for over forty years a resident of 
Turkey, gave a short talk. He referred to the need of all races in 
this part of the world, and mentioned the great work Amer- 
ica is doing through the Near East Relief in caring for the 
thousands of orphans and refugees, not only in Constanti- 
nople but in the interior of Anatolia, the Caucasus, and other 
points. The passengers most generously responded to the 
occasion by unanimously voting that a collection be taken up 
at once to help in the present appalling emergency, Turkish 
liras 1365.15 were donated. Dr. Peet, Col. Beckwith, and 
Professor Fisher were appointed a Committee to distribute 
the funds which were divided equally between the Disaster 
Committee for Russian Refugees, the Near East Relief, and 
the work for Moslems which Col. Beckwith represented. 

Early Friday morning the ship sailed up the Bosphorus, 
giving the tourists a distant view of the American College 
for Girls, Robert College, and some of the orphanages which 
America is supporting through the Near East Relief. At 
Miss Cushman's large orphanage, Boyadjikeuy, a huge sign 
could be seen from the boat bearing the message “The Near 
East Relief Orphans Welcome Americans.” 

At 10 a. m. the visitors were landed at the British Quay 
and were greeted by a splendid crowd of Near East Relief 
orphans in the Boy Scout uniform. The tourists drove away 
in a long line of carriages and automobiles to visit St. So- 
phia, the Military Museum of St. Irene, and were guests at 
Yildiz Palace to watch the Sultan go to prayers. 

The shops and streets of Constantinople have not seen 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


such a large group of Americans since pre-war days, and 
great excitement prevailed in the bazaars. Business is dull in 
Constantinople and the bazaar merchants welcomed the 
tourists with joy. 

This tour of eight hundred Americans, under the charge 
of Mr. F. C. Clark, sailed from New York, February 4th. The 
passengers report perfect weather, no seasickness, and thanks 
to Mr. Clark and Dr. D. E. Lorenz, a comfortable and even 
luxurious voyage. The various relief organizations wish to 
thank the Directors of the party and the officers of the ship 
for their kind cooperation in allowing the handiwork of the 
refugees to be exhibited and sold on board. 

The visitors sailed southward to the Holy Land, Friday, 
at 6 p.m , leaving a warm place in the hearts of all who had 
the pleasure of meeting them while in Constantinople, and 
carrying with them the grateful thanks of those who are to 
benefit by their generous gifts. His Holiness, Zaven, the Pat- 
riarch of the Armenians, sent a parting message, wishing the 
party Godspeed, and expressing the loving thanks of the 
thousands of children of the Near East whom America is 
helping. 

AMERICAN WOMEN’S HOSPITALS SEND 
FURTHER AID TO NEAR EAST RELIEF 

(Exerads from letter of Dr. M. E. Elliott , Medical Director, 
Near East Relief, Erivati) 

“You may be interested to know that the American 
Women's Hospitals, in addition to supplying the medical 
personnel for Ismid and Erivan, have given me sufficient 
funds to supply medical personnel to a district as large as 
Erivan. I have not yet had an opportunity to consult with 
Captain Yarrow as to where he would prefer to have me do 
this- but the need is great everywhere up here.” 

A Medical Society in Erivan 

"I have started a Medical Society in Erivan with our 
eleven local doctors and myself as members. We expect 
to invite in the outside doctors as guests. I am now getting 
a library together and fixing up a reading room. I receive 
my Weekly Journal quite regularly from America, aild I have 
sent for a couple of French Journals. Dr. Ussher has very 
kindiy offered me the use of his medical library for this 
purpose which makes it possible for me to start the library 
immediately. I am asking Tiflis Headquarters to allow me 
to buy a few Russian and French medical books. 

“The doctors seem so pleased. Really, when one stops 
to think, these poor doctors are, as one of them expressed it 
to me, ‘in a veritable desert as far as any chance of keeping 
up with the medical work is concerned.” 


NEAR EAST RELIEF REPRESENTATIVES 
MEMBERS OF THE ARMENIAN 
CENTRAL COMMITTEE. CONSTANTINOPLE 

The Assistant Managing Director, Mr. George White, 
and the Director of the Orphanage Department, Miss Glee 


\ 


Hastings, have been invited as official members of the 
Near East Relief to ?attend the semi-weeklv meetings of the 
Executive Committee of the Armenian Central Committee. 
The result should be a closer cooperation of the Near East 
Relief with the Armenian Central Committee, and a more 
satisfactory and direct method of bringing about desired 
changes in the management of the orphanages. The invita- 
tion to become members of the Armenian Central Com- 
mittee has been gladly accepted. The new arrangement 
should be mutually beneficial. 

1300 WELLESLEY CHILDREN IN BROUSA 

( Extracts from Broasa January report by Bernice J. Everett) 

“With 1300 children in the Wellesley Near East Relief 
schools, it was impossible to celebrate Christmas so we had 
to be content with giving presents from the old clothes. We 
wish to use every penny to keep the schools going as long 
as possible. 

Soap Boxes for School Seats 

“We took pictures in one of the Greek schools of the 275 
youngsters sitting on the soap and milk box seats. A little 
fellow had his lunch and all his treasures in one box, and he 
simply could not be separated from that box even for the 
purpose of having his picture taken. 

Literary Digest Covers as Presents 

“Mr. Weiser mounted the colored covers of the Literary 
Digest, and when he presented them to the teachers, there 
was a mad rush of children and we thought there would be 
no bright pictures left to tell the tale. Oh for more school 
equipment from America -especially bright colored cards, 
pictures and books ! 

“We are now giving at noon a hot dish of rice or beans 
to 200 of the poorest Armenian children at the school. The 
other day we had a present of eight okes of fresh meat -so 
the children had a feast of meat flavored cabbage stew. 

“A small pharmacy has been opened in our hall from 
which we give out simple medicines upon receiving a written 
order from the native doctors. There have been some cases 
of smallpox in Brousa, and the Greek authorities have vac- 
cinated the refugee population. 

In the Villages 

“Mr. Weiser took a load of supplies to the refugees liv- 
ing in the villages and the supplies were more than gratefully 
received. These people are making a brave effort to live 
under difficult circumstances, and we felt that some en- 
couragement on our part would be a great help. The 
supplies were carried by Greek Army camions to Einegeul, 
but from there transportation was very difficult, taking the 
oxcarts over four hours to make four kilometres.” 


3 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


Smaller Orphanage for the Kindergarten 

There are one hundred little boys of kindergarten age at 
Kooleli who would be much better off in a smaller orphanage. 
Each little child would then receive more individual attention. 
They need a more homelike atmosphere than can possibly 
exist in a big barracks like Kooleli. These children, how- 
ever, have a special sunshiny dining-room, classroom and 
dormitory, and are in charge of two young women w'ho had 
training in Miss Kinney’s former school at Adabazar. There 
is a great need for toys, games, and kindergarten equipment. 
At present the children are sleeping on the floor because 
there is no money to bny bedsteads, and they sit on the 
floor during classes. If money can be secured to pay for 
the wood, the carpentry shops can make little tables and 
benches for them. 

Glee Hastings 
Director, Orphanage Dept. 


INCREASE OF ORPHANS AT CESAREA 

{Extract from January Cesarea Report) 

Our expenses for the past three monthshave been greater 
for the following reasons : 

(1) Large increase of children in the orphanages owing 

to present conditions, 

(2) Extensive repairs made necessary by . change of 

buildings and increased enrollment. 

For the past three months we have been busy getting 
our three thousand odd children ready for an Anatolian 
winter. This is no small task when three-fourths of them 
are outside of Talas, and many are over one hundred miles 
away. We were fortunate in being able to move our Ak 
Dagh children to Talas this fall. The children were dis- 
tributed among the orphanages in Talas and Cesarea. 

In the summer the children of the Cesarea orphanages 
were moved to the Evkere Monastery, about twelve miles 
from Cesarea. A considerable amount of repair work was 
necessary to make these buildings habitable for winter, but 
the place is ideal in many ways for an orphanage, and the 
children who have been shut up in the city houses are now 
showing the effects of the air and sunshine of the country. 

Our greatest enterprise this fall has been the taking over 
of the orphanage at Zindjirdere. For some time the Unit 
has supplied a large part of the clothing and some food to 
this orphanage, but it became clear that the children needed 
better care than could be given by the local committee. 
One of our American workers has been put in charge and the 
werfk has been re-organized and put upon the same basis as 
the other American Orphanages of Talas. 

Stella N. Loughridge 
Director of Orphanages, Cesarea District. 


KOULELI ORPHANAGE, CONSTANTINOPLE 
Carpentry Shop 

Sixty boys at Kouleli Orphanage are now busily work- 
ing in the carpentry shops under the able direction of Mr. 
Aharonian, a graduate of the Engineering Department at 
Robert College. Shortly the number will be increased to 
ninety. The majority of the boys work half the day, and 
study the other half, but a few of the older boys, to whom it 
is epecially desirab'e to teach a trade quickly, are working full 
time in the carpentry shops. 

The first work of the boys has been to repair their own 
work-rooms which are now in a spick and span condition. 
Six hundred Turkish liras from the Canadian Industrial Fund 
have been appropriated for tools and materials. There are 
already a number of orders on hand for furniture, and it is 
hoped that within a reasonable time the shops will be run- 
ning on a self-supporting basis. The carpentry boys will 
also he employed in making some very necessary repairs on 
the buildings of their own orphanage. 


FROM BAGDAD TO CONSTANTINOPLE 

Miss Emma Cushman has welcomed children of many 
nationalities at her Near East Relief orphanage at Boyadji- 
keuy on the Bosphorus. A little over one year ago, many 
of the Russian children who came to Constantinople with the 
138,000 refugees from the Crimea, found a temporary home 
with Miss Cushman. On New Year's Day, 1921, Miss Cush- 
man planned a dinner for her large family of little Russians, 
Calymks, Cossacks, Ukranians, Armenians, and Greeks. 

The latest arrival at the orphanage are fifty-one Armen- 
ian children from Bagdad. These children were gathered 
together from the Arabian desert, and a few from the Bacuba 
refugee camp. Many of the children are natives of this part 
of the country. They left Bagdad on December 17th under 
the charge of Mr. Setrag Boghosian. British ships transported 
them from Basra to Bombay, and from Bombay to Egypt. 
At Alexandria, they boarded the “Abbesieh," which arrived in 
Constantinople, February 21st. After a long hard trip, they 
were glad to find a home in Miss Cushman’s orphanage. 


WORK AT CESAREA 

[Extracts from tetter of Mrs. L. C. Sewnv, Talas, Jan. 12th ) 

“The work here is going along smoothly. Dr. Wright’s 
trunk with his diplomas reached here a few days ago so he 
will soon be able to begin his regular work. He has put the 
sterilizer in order so that we can use it and has repaired the 
X-ray machine. Now he is building a delouser which is 
v$ry much needed. 

“We are hoping to obtain a larger building for the hos- 
pital. The Director thinks he may be able to give us one of 
the school buildings and double up the orphans. There is 
a great need for surgical and medical work. It is hard not 
to have enough space. Our quarters at present are so limited 
that by squeezing I can only take in fifty patients.” 



DR. WRIGHT TAKES CHARGE OF MEDICAL 


/ 

* 


4 NEAR EAST RELIEF 


EVEN CONDENSED MILK CAN WRAPPERS 
ARE NOT WASTED IN THE CAUCASUS 

{Extract from letter from Miss Mabelle Phillips ) 

Perhaps this is rather late to tell about Christmas fes- 
tivities, but the following will show how even a scrap of 
bright paper is valued in the Caucasus: 

"Our tree for our two hundred kindergarten kiddies was 
decorated with ornaments of colored paper made by the 
class, and our clever head teacher showed the children how 
to cut bright pictures from the wrappers of condensed milk 
cans. The jolly little boy on a red background makes the 
outside of 'On ley Brand Milk' a very valuable acquisition 
in this picture-less, toyless, colorless life. However, our party 
was not a joyless one for the kiddies were quite wild with 
excitement. Every bit of the program was applauded to the 
echos, and one baby kept bursting from the ranks and doing 
little fancy steps and runs to the place reserved for the per- 
formers. A little fellow, not more than five, danced a pres- 
tissimo on the cement floor in his bare feet until we rocked 
on our stools to see him. 

"The special feature in our honor on Christmas Eve was 
a song ■which was probably picked out as one of our 
national anthems. All of a sudden, after they had been 
singing several minutes, we recognized, "Billy Magee Megaw." 
Of course our applause for this real American masterpiece 
in the far away Caucasus was thunderous ! " 


WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY IN 
CONSTANTINOPLE 

Washington's Birthday was celebrated in Constantinople 
by a joint luncheon of the American Luncheon Clubs at 
Tokatlian's Hotel. Three hundred Americans, representing 
the various American organizations, were grouped about the 
tables according to their native States. Interesting short 
speeches were made by Admiral Mark L. Bristol, American* 
High Commissioner, and Dr. Patrick, President. of the Amer- 
ican College for Girls. The American Naval Band furnished 
patriotic and dance music. The luncheon was one of the 

largest and most enjoyable gatherings of Americans in Con- 
stantinople. 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Basset, Mrs. Edna Ashley (Los Angeles, California). Social 
Service Worker, Mrs. Basset was engaged in housing, 
sanitary and relief work, Mexico, 1904-1908 ; surgical 
nurse, Los Angeles, 1919-21 ; social service work fn 
Geneva, Switzerland. Mrs. Basset has been assigned to 
orphanage work in Samsoun, Anatolia Area. 

The following- new personnel arrived in Constan. 

tinople, February 22nd, on the “King- Alexander 

Harthill, Leonard R. (New York City). Agricultural work, 


Caucasus. Graduate Oregon Agricultural College: 
, Head of Department of Agriculture, New York In- 
stitute of Applied Agriculture, Farmingdale, L.I.; 
3 years in the Extension Department of the Pravince 
of British Columbia, Department of Agriculture: 
Harthill, Mrs. Leonard R. (New York City). Graduate Bar- 
nard College ; experience in social and secretarial 
work. 

Martin, Bertha (Pennsylvania). Volunteer worker, paying 
own expenses; joining brother, Mr. Clark Martin, in 
Caucasus Area. 

The S. S. “Sagaporaek” arrived February 24th 
with the following- personnel : 

Cronin, William J. (New Haven, Conn.). Farm work in the 
Caucasus in connection with farm machinery; ex- 
perience in general farming, farm machinery, and 
automobile repairs; held position with New York 
State Institute of Applied Agriculture, Farmingdale, 
at time of enlistment. 

Hall, Harry (Paterson, N.J.). Work connected with tractors 
and farm machinery in the Caucasus. Connected 
with New York State Institute of Applied Agri- 
culture, Farmingdale, at time of enlistment. 

The S. S. "Sagaporaek’’ also transported ten tractors for 
work in the Caucasus Area. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Mr. H. C. Jaquith, Managing Director of the Anatolian 
Area of the Near East Relief, returned Saturday evening, 
Feb. 25th, from a business trip to Paris. 

Mrs. Edna Ashley Basset (Los Angeles, Cal.) sailed Feb- 
ruary 24th, for, work in the Samsoun Near East Relief or- 
phanages. 

Mr. and Mrs. Leonard B. Harthill (New York City) and 
Miss Bertha Martin (Pennsylvania) sailed for the Caucasus 
Area, February 24th. 

Mr. William J. Cronin (New Haven, Conn.) and Mr. 
Harry Hall (Paterson, N. J.) are sailing February 26th for 
agricultural work in Alexandropol, Caucasus Branch. 

Miss M. L. Caldwell has been assigned temporarily to 
the Brousa Unit of the Near East Relief to replace Miss Ber- 
nice Everett who is leaving for a vacation. 

Miss A. H. Chickering (Worcester,. Mass.) sailed Feb- 
ruary 19th for Constanza en route for Vienna. Miss 
Chickering has been in charge of the accounting and in- 
dustrial work of the Samsoun Unit of the Near East Relief 
for one year. She is spending her vacation in Vienna, Buda- 
pest and Rome. 

Mrs. Melville Chater, who has been serving on the Med- 
ical Committee, is now connected with the Orphanage De- 
partment, Constantinople, taking charge of the medical and 
sanitary supervision of the orphanages. 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 9 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. March 4, 1922 

Food Transportation Difficult 


ERIVAN 

(Extracts of letter from Thomas Mills, of New York City, 
dated Erivan, February 20th ) 

"Two days travelling about and observing generally the 
conditions of the refugees in the city of Erivan, Armenia, has 
been more than sufffcient to convince a field man, long fa- 
miliar with relief work, that it is not disease which is killing 
off the. inhabitants of Erivan — it is plain hunger, siarvation 
and exposure. 

"Upon arriving in this city from Tiflis, Georgia, I was 
impressed as never before with the terrible results of famine 
and siarvation. I have been connecled with relief work 
north on the Russian frontier, and in Finland amid the semi- 
arctic winter, but never before have I come in contact with 
such harrowing conditions of suffering and death as are now 
prevalent in Erivan, the capital of Armenia. 

“I can truthfully say that it presents a story of such- suf- 
fering'and tragedy that no limited statement can convey the 
ample need and seriousness of the situation. 1 touch only 
in a general may on what I saw for myself during the past 
two days here. 

"Outside one of the Near East Relief's soup kitchens 
I saw shivering in the cold and snow hundreds of starving- 
children who cried bitterly from hunger and exposure. They 
kept coming in from everywhere all day, presenting a heart- 
rending picture in their scanty rags and shoeless feet. The 
impending end to many of their short lives was plainly 
written in their glassy and staring eyes. 

“All possible relief is given to those applying at the 
Near East Relief soup kitchen, and a bowl of soup or boiled 
grits is given out to each child until the kettles are empty. 
Dreadful as it may seem, it is absolutely necessary to turn 
away many unfed owing to lack of supplies. 

“The number of orphans keeps increasing to such an 
extent that the Near East cannot hope to properly care for 
all and many are dying every day in Erivan. Fifteen 
victims of starvation were removed from the central district 
of the city yesterday. 

"At Mohoob, about ten miles from here, there are 6,000 
which the Near East Relief has taken steps to feed. At the 
time of their arrival, many had not eaten or even seen food 
for over five days. 

"Another 6,000 refugees recently arrived at Gamarloo, 
about sixteen miles outside of Erivan. The Near East Relief 
is also taking steps to aid in feeding this group. 


“Not the least among the many difficulties with which 
the American Commission is contending is the transportation 
of the food' to such far away points. The roads are in very 
bad condition, and the local Government, although willing 
to cooperate, can do littie. 

Government Prohibiting Refugees Entering City 

"The Government has prohibited additional refugees 
entering the already overcrowded city. This measme may 
prove a good one if the outlying points can be reached in 
some way to aid the dreadful misery of these people. 

"Here in Erivan, taking their last refuge in ruined attics 
of former city dwellings, I found families by the hundreds. 
As many as six families were often huddled together in one 
of these cold and forbidding stone attics which are not fit for 
wild animals. These people keep dying off from cold and 
hunger in their tomb-like cells. They possess nothing but 
their rags. 

"It is of course impossible for such numbers to find 
work in Erivan. The Near East Relief has done great good 
in finding employment in the past, but such widespread and 
terrible distress as exists at present is greater than the re- 
sources of the organization can effectively handle. 

"As 1 finish this letter, wet snow covers everything in 
Erivan and continues to fall, which makes conditions worse 
for those living in the streets.” 


CONSTANTINOPLE COLLEGE GIRLS OF 
FIFTEEN NATIONALITIES RAISE FUND FOR 
NEEDY CITY CHILDREN 

Mrs. Richard Etnrich, Director of the Case Committee 
of the Near East Relief, recently addressed the students of 
Constantinople Girls College on "The Hunger of tiie Child- 
hood of Constantinople," telling of the mental as well as the 
physical needs of the thousands of unfortnnate children of 
the city. 

The girl students of Constantinople College, -a group 
of fifteen nationalities, became so interested that they have 
formed a committee which is now raising money to aid in 
the work. 

Mrs. Emrich’s Committee of the Near East Relief is 
aiding widows of five nationalities who are making a cour- 
ageous struggle to keep a home for their children. The 
Case Committee reaches 5845 children weekly. 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


SIXTY VILLAGES SEND MADAM S1LSHENKE 
TO APPEAL TO NEAR EAST RELIEF 

Madame Xenia Silslienke, a young widow, came from 
Bash Norashen in Sharoor to tell us a pitiful story. She 
probably is the most intelligent inhabitant .of her village, 
aud was appointed by her townspeople as a representative to 
go to Erivan for a conference with the Near East Relief to 
appeal for immediate assistance for the starving Tartars and 
Armenians in the sixty villages, of Sheroor, the District be- 
tween Bash Norashen and Shahtakhti. 

Her country people are succombing to starvation in 
large numbers and are practically naked and helpless. She 
begs that the Near East Relief will give due consideration to 
this district aud extend its activities there. 

At present we are feeding our full quota of refugees and 
orphans, and without increased funds we can do no more. 

Milton C. Brown 
District Commander, 
Near East Relief, Erivan. 


ROBERT COLLEGE- STUDENTS RAISE 
645 itlRAS TO AID UNFORTUNATE 
CITY CHILDREN 

The Committee formed by the students of Robert Col- 
lege to aid in collecting funds for unfortunate city children, 
reports to date 645 Liras. This Committee was formed in 
response to a lecture and appeal given by Mrs. Richard 
Emrich, Director of the Case Committee of the Near East Re- 
lief. The money will be spent by the students themselves, who 
plan to divide it equally among needy Russian, Greek, 
Armenian, Turkish, and Jewish children. The students 
have already visited four or five areas of the Near East Re- 
lief Case Committee work. 

STARVING RUSSIAN CHILDREN, VOLGA 
DISTRICT, ENTER FAMINE-STRICKEN 
ARM EMI A SEARCHING FOOD 

{Extract from Erivan Newspaper “Our Truth'’ Jan. 4, 1922) 

“Many Russian children in a starving condition from the 
Volga region have been received in Erivan, Armenia. The 
Government Commission for starving people was at a loss 
what to do with these children owing to the lack of every- 
thing but a little bread. 

“Owing to the absence of everything in the form of 
clothing, there was no possibility of removing the ragged 
clothes which these children had been wearing while travell- 
ing for over one month and a half. The Government Relief 
Commission applied to the Near East Relief and were given 
the warmest cooperation. The American Near East Relief 
issued underwear for boys and girls, shoes, overcoats, caps, 
dresses, and suits of clothes. 


“The Government has given these starving children of 
the Volga region some bread -there was nothing more to 
give. The aid given by the Near East Relief supplied the 
children with warm clothing and additional food. 

“The Brigade Commission, who participated in the or- 
ganization of the orphanage in Erivan for the starving child- 
ren of the Volga region, wishes to give to the American 
Near East Relief Committee and to Mr. Milton C. Brown, 
the Director of the Erivan Unit, profound and warm thanks 
for the assistance rendered. 

Brigade Relief Commission for the Volga Destitute 
People." 

THE HOME OF 6400 CHILDREN 
The Post 

Kazachi Post Near East Relief Compound, Alexandropol, 
is composed of ninety buildings which are all being used for 
the orphanage work. There is a fine Russian Church which 
was built for the soldiers once quartered at the barracks. 
Sunday morning the church is filled with 2000 Near East 
Relief children. The family at Kazachi Post fills the church 
three times, and the children take turns in attending sev- 
vices. A Gregorian priest holds regular services and oc- 
casionally the Bishop presides. The girl choir consists of 
thirty voices. 

Transportation 

The food for this large family of children must be im- 
ported and a large amount comes from America or Con- 
stantinople by ship up the Black Sea to Batoum. The greater 
part of the transportation work is done by mules or horses, 
although some trucks are being used. One truck in parti- 
cular deserves mention. It has been converted into a sort 
of locomotive and can be used on the railroad track for trans- 
porting supplies from and to the w-arehouse and for switching 
purposes. 

Construction Shops make all equipment 

The building of roads, bridges, sheds, repairing of 
buildings, plastering, whitewashing, and cement work ; the 
making of mazoot tanks, ox-carts and general coustruction 
work are done in the Carpenter and Mason Section of the 
Construction Department. The Carpenter Section also 
makes all the tables, benches, stools, black-boards, shelves, 
doors, window frames, wash tubs, bakery tubs, wooden beds, 
tool handles, filing cases, etc. The Tinsmith Section makes 
stoves, pipes, soup bowls for orphans, tin dishes, cups, saucers, 
showers for bath-house, etc., etc. This section gives employ- 
ment to many refugees and teaches the older orphans boys 
a trade. 

The plumbing section has recently repaired and equipped 
the Central Bathhouse so that it is now possible to bathe 
1200 children daily. This section looks after all the water 
pipes, and is constructing a new Central Laundry. 


— 


■ 


— 


— 


— 




NEAR EAST RELIEF 


3 


The shoemaking section does all the leather work, each 
shoemaker repairing on the average of 20 pairs Of shoesdaily, 
as well as making 500 pairs of shoes weekly. The shoe- 
makers also make belts, saddles, bridles, etc. 

Supplies 

Most of the supplies are obtained from America, but 
when possible purchases are made locally. People from the 
surrounding villages come in daily with produce on a small 
scale, but these small quantities, when taken on the whole, help 
out greatly in the task of feeding the family of over 6000. The 
Supply Department deals with as many as 1500 people’daily 
in this way. Most of the supplies are paid for with articles 
of old clothing. 

A String- of Wagons four Miles Long Carrying Fuel 

Recently 750 fourgon loads or 10,000 poods of wood, 
equivalent to 180 tons, were added to the winter’s supply of 
wood for Kazachi Post. The string of wagons was four 
miles long and constituted the amount of wood delivered in 
one day. Last week trainloads of wood were sent to Kazachi 
Post to complete the winter's supply. Altogether about 70 
t'rainloads of wood have been received. Besides this, large 
amounts of mazoot are burned. 

Butchery 

Cattle and sheep are killed three limes a week, and oc- 
casionally pork is available. This supplies the American and 
local personnel, and furnishes fresh meat for the orphanages. 

Bakery 

Twenty nine men bake the bread. One hundred and 
sixty to one hundred and seventy poods of bread are baked 
daily, usiug from one handred ten to one hundred twenty 
poods of flour. Light huge ovens are used, each having a 
capacity of seventy five loaves weighing ten funts each. 

The above are just a few of the departments necessary to 
run a home for over 6000 children. The schools, the laundry, 
fBrming, sewing, knitting, mattress making weaving, hos- 
pitals, eye treatments, etc., etc., have not been mentioned, 
or the splendid Boy Scouf organization of orphan boys who 
act as guards, office boys, apprentices, orderlies, messengers, 
servants, etc. 

TiOOD PROGRESS AT THE JEWISH ORPHANAGE 

{From report of Miss Hastings, Director Orphanage Depart., 

Constan tinople) 

The Jewish orphanage of 210 boys and girls at Ortakeuy, 
Constantinople, under the very able new Directors, M. and 
Mme. Angel 1, is making good progress. It is always clean, 
the children receive a Turkish bath and clean clothing every 
Thursday, and the food is satisfactory. The Jewish or- 
phanage at Haskeuy, which was housed in unsatisfactory, 
quarters, has been closad, and the children have been moved 
■to Ortakeuy. Within a short time, 90 Jewish children who 


are now boarded out under wretched conditions will be 
admitted to the Ortakeuy orphanage. 


4 

PRESENT CONDITIONS AROUND BAKU 

{From information given to the Rev. Harold Buxton, 
Jan. 21, 1922, by the Commissaire of Pullic 
Supplies and Public Security) 

7000 Russian Refugees have arrived from the Volga 
District, including 2000 children. Many war refugees (Rus- 
sian soldiers) who were in Turkestan during. the war are uu- 
able to return to their homes and they still remain in Baku. 
In addition there are 140,000 refugees from other points. 
The districts most affected are Karabagh, Lengora, Gevad, 
Kasak, and Guekchai. These regions are all famine-stricken 
owing to locusts, the flooding of the Kara, lack of seed for 
planting, etc. 

There are 20,000 sick in Baku, and 30,000 in the sur- 
rounding country. The most common maladies are: 

1. Malaria — There is urgent need of 15,000 kilos of 

quinine, 

2. Spotted typhus, 

3. Recurrent fever. 

There are 100,000 people destitute in the cities of this 
region, and 200,000 in the country. 


U.S.S. “SANDS” RESCUES THIRTY PEOPLE IN 
BARGE ON BLACK SEA 

The U.S.S. "Sands” left Samsoun on a distress call from 
the S. S. “Eastern Ocean” which ship reported a barge drifting 
in the Black Sea with over 20 men on board without food or 
water. 

The “Sands” left Samsoun on the 24th, located the 
barge on the morning of the 26th, and towed the barge to 
Ineboli. There were 29 men and one woman on board. 
They had been drifting for 17 days. 

Admiral Mark L. Bristol has sent the following message 
of commendation to the U. S. S. “Sands:” 

-'Your promptness, energetic search and rescue of the 
stranded barge and crew on the 26th shows the loyal spirit 
of the personnel of the Detachment. The Detachment eom- 
mander wishes to congratulate the captain, officers, and crew 
on their successful accomplishment of this most humane 
mission.” 


CONSTANTINOPLE “HOUSEWIVES LEAGUE” 
TO AID IN ESTABLISHING DAY NURSERY 

Mrs. Richard Emrich recently spoke before the House Wives 
League at Robert College on the Constantinople Refugee 
Situation as seen b£ the Near East Relief. A committee has 
been formed by this League to aid in the establishing of a 
Day Nursery at Haskeuy, Constantinople. 







4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


THREE NEAR EAST RELIEF ORPHANS OPEN 
THEIR OWN SHOESHOP 

Armenak, Leon, and Haigazonn Khrimian, three broth- 
ers, who were Near East Relief orphans in the Beylerbey 
Industrial Orphanage, Constantinople, have opened their 
own shoetnaking shop and are now in a position to make 
five to six liras daily- if business is good. 

They have written a letter of gratitude to the Armenian 
Central Committee and the Near East Relief for the care 
they have received in the orphanage and for the thorough 
instruction in shoemaking. 

Another orphan, Karakin Karakeylayan, has been grad- 
uated from the shoemaking branch of the orphanage in- 
dustrial work, and has left the orphanage. He has promised 
to take under his care his younger brother, now in the Bey- 
lerbey orphanage, as soon as his income will allow him 
to do so. 


AMBITIOUS REFUGEES FORM NEW 
COMMUNITY IN KADI-KEUY 

A group of 1600 Armenian refugees in Constantinople, 
tired of the life in a refugee camp, have taken a vacant lot 
in Kadi-Keuy and built themselves shacks of old boxes, 
boards or any materials obtainable. The British donated 
some galvanized roofing which makes their homes water- 
proof. 

A committee governs the municipal affairs of the com- 
munity, taking charge of sanitation and the many serious 
questions with which these people must deal. The women 
are taking in washing and the men do whatever odd jobs 
they can find. They are receiving no outside aid. 

This ambitious refugee communify has applied for per- 
mission to build a church. 


MANY AMERICAN TOURIST PARTIES 
EXPECTED IN CONSTANTINOPLE 

The S. S. “Coronia" of the Cunard Line, carrying 330 
American tourists is scheduled to arrive in Constantinople 
Harbour, Monday evening Feb. 6th. The ship will remain 
two days. The “George Washington” will arrive March 8th, 
the “Adriatic” March 10th, the “Carmania” March 11th, and 
the “Empress of France” March 17th. 


NOTICE FOR NURSES 

Miss Emma Wood has received, through Miss Clara D. 
Noyes, the following announcement from the Secretary of 
the State Board of Nurse Examiners of New York: 

“The nurses who are registered in Ne\)v York need 
have no anxiety regarding re-registration. It is merely 
necessary for them to re-register here before beginning 


to practice in this State the R.N. certificate which they 
now hold. It is not necessary to take out annual re- 
registration unless the nurse is actually practising in this 
State.” 


YOUSSOUF KEMAL BEY EXPRESSES GRIEF 
IN MISS ALLEN S DEATH] 

During a recent interview, Youssouf Kemal Bey, the 
Commissary for Foreign Affairs of the Great National As- 
sembly, expressed to Mr. H. C. Jaquith, Managing Director, 
his deep grief and sorrow for the death of Miss Annie Allen. 
He said : “Not only myself but all the inhabitants of An- 
gora, and the leaders of the Government as well, have mourn- 
ed very much the death of Miss Allen who was considered a 
friend of the people of the country and highly esteemed 
by all.” 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Mrs. N. H. Austin (St. Louis, Mo.) who has been In- 
spector of Rations, Caucasus Branch, has returned to Con- 
stantinople. 

Dr. C. D. Ussher, of the American Board of Foreign 
Missions, and formerly Director of the Near East Relief at 
Erivan, is returning to America on furlough. 

Mrs. Dorothy Sutton (Washington, D.C.) who has been 
Superintendent of Orphanage work, Erivan, has returned to 
Constantinople. 

Miss Margaret W. Edwards, of the Aleppo Unit of the 
Beirut Area of the Near East Relief, is to be transferred to 
the Beirut Headquarters. 

Miss Charlotte R. Willard of Marsovan sailed from New 
York, Feb. 15th, on the “Megali Hellas,” and is dne in Con- 
stantinople March 6th. With her come several Near East 
Relief workers. 

Mr. W. C. Pearce, Associate General Secretary of the 
World's Sunday School Association, who is on the tourist 
steamer “Adriatic,” expects to be in Constantinople March 
10 to 12. 

Miss Stella N. Loughridge, of Talas, has gone to Sivas 
to help out during the illness of Miss Theda Phelps, who is 
making good progress toward full recovery. 

Births : — At Nicomedia on Feb. 8th, to Dr. and Mrs. 
Albert W. Dewey, a daughter, Margaret Elizabeth. 

At Constantinople on Feb. 13th, to Mr. and Mrs. Luther 
R. Fowle, a daughter, Helen Joy. 

At Constantinople, on Feb. 17th, to Mr. and Mrs. Warren 
E. Bristol, a son. 

At Smyrna, on Feb. 18th, to Prof, and Mrs. Caleb W. 
Lawrence, their first daughter, and seventh child, Dorothy 
Nancy. 


Printed by H. M ATTEOSI AN 
Bible House, Constantinople 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 10, 11, 12 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. March 11, 18, 25, 1922 


HORRIBLE FAMINE CONDITIONS 
IN CAUCASUS AREA 

(Extracts from recent cables from Mr. E. A. Yarrow, 
Managing Director, N. E. R. Caucasus Branch ) 

100 Dying- Daily of Hunger 

“Tiflis, March 2nd. E. A. Yarrow, F. A. Golder, and 
Lincoln Hutchinson completed survey famine conditions, 
Georgian Republic. They have left for Erivan to make simil- 
ar survey famine conditions in Armenia where it is reported 
that one hundred are dying daily of hunger.” 

Snowslides and Blizzards Hinder Famine Survey 
and N.E.R. Relief Workers 

"Survey in famine districts, Georgia, hampered by ter- 
. rific condition roads which prevented repeated attempts to 
reach interior villages by automobile. Throughout Georgia 
and Armenia railroad and highway traffic have been nearly 
at a standstill in past few days by blizzards and snowslides. 

"Party American relief workers under Mr. S. E. Newman, 
of Middleton, Idaho, on way from Alexandropol to Tiflis 
were marooned thirty hours in box-car by snowslide neces- 
sitating shovelling train out of snow for distance several 
miles.” 

Starving- Peasants Entering Overcrowded 
Towns in Search of Food 

"Tiflis, March 7th. Migrations starving peasants from 
villages, owing exhaustion of food supplies, are causing acute 
embarrassment in the overcrowded towns in search of food. 
Fifteen hundred arrived Alexandropol where Near East Re- 
lief is already feeding five thousand refugees and over twenty 
thousand orphans. Severe temperature and heavy snowfall 
threaten delay of spring farming.” 

Wolves Attacking- Helpless Villagers 

"Snow is now six to nine feet deep in eastern districts 
where villagers have been terrified during past fortnight by 
incursions wolves. Two soldiers on outpost duty near Da- 
rachichan eaten by wolves after long battle. It is reported 
that five peasants lost lives near Alexadropol when band of 
wolves attacked village in search of food.” 

Bread Riots in Alexandropol 

"Tiflis, March 13th. Erivan famine situation increasingly 
serious past fortnight. Bread riots occurred Alexandropol 


March 1st when all food shops were pillaged. Several va- 
rieties of currency including Russian, Georgian, and Armen- 
ian, practically valueless. Old clothes are now the most use- 
ful currency throughout Armenia.” 


REFUGEE SHIP FROM NOVOROSSISK LANDS 
IN CONSTANTINOPLE WITHOUT FOOD 
OR WATER 

The S. S. "Michael Archangelos”, carrying 3500 Greek 
refugees from Novorossisk, landed in Constantinople early 
Wednesday morning, March 22nd, with no food or water 
on board. The 500 children and 3000 adults had been living 
on mixed sea and fresh water, with limited bread supply, for 
sixteen days. Many were ill. Two were dead. 

Mr. Harry Stephopoula, of the Greek High Commission, 
and Mr. G. H. Dennis, of the Near East Relief, supplied emer- 
gency rations. 

As soon as sufficient coal, water and food can be secured, 
the ship will be taken to Salonica for quarantine, after which 
the refugees will be sent to Kavala where some of the able- 
bodied will find work on tobacco farms. 

These refugees state that there are 20,000 starving Greeks 
in Novorossisk waiting to follow them, and that twenty-five 
to thirty are dying daily from hunger. 

2842 AMERICAN VISITORS IN 
CONSTANTINOPLE DURING PAST 30 DAYS 

During ihe past month, Constantinople has seen the 
greatest number of tourists since pre-war times. The "Em- 
press of Scotland” arrived February 23rd, with a party of 
800; the "Coronia,” March 6th, with over 300; the "George 
Washington” March 9th with 679 ; the "Carmania” March 
11th with 363 ; and the “Empress of France” March 17th 
with 700. 

The gaily lighted pleasure ships were a striking contrast 
in a harbor filled with the warships of every nation, and the 
prosperous looking tourists were thankfully welcomed by 
refugees who still had a few pieces of jewellery or handmade 
articles to sell. 

The Near East Relief Boy Scout orphans were at the 
quay to welcome each ship, and all American organizations 
in Constantinople aided in showing the tourists the sights of 
this ancient city, overcrowded with its own population as 
well as sheltering 140,000 refugees. 

Miss Emma Cushman, of the Near East Relief Orphanage 
at Boyadjikeuy, and Miss Emma Wood, of the Hospital for 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


Tubercular Children, Yedi Koule, served tea to a number 
of guests who were interested in the work. Many of the 
tourists who visited the orphanages and refugee camps stated 
that conditions were a revelation to them and that it was im- 
possible at home to realize the vast need without seeing it. 
A number of donations were made on the ships for the va- 
rious phases of American work in Turkey. 

Each party reported splendid weather and a comfortable 
trip, giving much credit to the companies in charge of the 
tours— Raymond & Whitcomb, dhos. Cook & Sons, the 
American Express Co., and Frank C. Clark. One tourist 
stated that the sail up the Bosphorus at sunset to the Black 
Sea was worth the whole trip from the United States. 

The Near East Relief wasglad of the opportunity to show 
a little of the work which America has been doing for the 
children and refugees of the Near East. 


A DAY IN AN ARMENIAN MOUNTAIN VILLAGE 

Bv John R. Wood of Chicago, 

{Field Inspector of the Near East Relief, 
Alexandropol, Armenia.) 

Although it was well past mid-March, I battled for two 
days with the stings and arrows of an outrageous Caucasian 
blizzard before I reached the mountain town of Bulli-bulak. 
Report of acute suffering from starvation had reached the 
Near East Relief headquarters in Alexandropol from this 
district, and I had been directed to push through by sleigh 
and see what could be done to relieve the situation, parti- 
cularly among the children. 

This winter’s suffering in these mountain villages has 
been very acute. The mountaineers rely for their winter food 
on supplies of grain which they purchase in the valley towns. 
Last fall there was very little grain to be purchased, even in 
exchange for their excellent mountain sheep and goats, and 
the poor mountain people began the winter with no more 
than half their minimum requirements. 

So hundreds of them have starved. I estimate that 
nearly twenty per cent of the population of these districts 
have died of starvation this winter. The mortality among the 
younger children has been frightful, although many of the 
wiser parents have contrived to send their children down into 
the valley villages in the hope that the Americans will find 
them and care for them until spring. 

Scarcely had my sleigh started down the slope by which 
one approaches Bulli-bulak, than the mellow note of a moun- 
tain horn announced my arrival to the villagers. At least 
half of the 940 inhabitants came out from their huts to greet 
the stranger, first visitor for many weeks. It was a nondes- 
cript assembly which surrounded my sleigh, and their ap- 
pearance left no doubt as to the crying need of relief. There 
were old men and women, obviously feeble from exposure 
and suffering; there were young men and women with faces 
as drawn ahd tired as those of the older folk ; there were little 
Children with approaching death written clearly on their 
emaciated faces. 


The crowd surged around me. There was no explosive 
hurrah of welcome, but a half-coherent murmur of appeal, 
almost fike a collective wail. I turned over my sleigh-load 
of supplies to the head man of the village with an order that 
they were to go to the most needy, with preference always 
for the women and children. There was a slender week’s 
ration for 300 persons, and I left the distribution to the head- 
man and the priest, while I visited a few of the village houses 
to see what conditions were in the homes and to plan for 
further rations to be sent up the next week. 

There are few comforts inside the houses. The walls are 
unadorned, the floor is of clay. One or two coarse Cau- 
casian rugs are spread on the floor, and straw mattresses are 
the only beds. The only heat comes from a shallow hole in 
the center of the floor of the living room. This "fire-hole,' 
as the mountaineers call it, is narrow at the top and wide at 
the base, and its sides are lined with stones, against which 
the flat bread is baked exactly as American children bake 
their mud pies. There is no chimney, and the acrid smoke 
fills the upper part of the room and obscures the rafters, 
where a collection of dried herbs and roots swing smokily 
back and forth. 

I made a survey of conditions, and passed on to the hut 
of the head-man, where I completed arrangements for a 
further rationing of the women and children of his village. 


A LITTLE SCHOOL FOR THE ORTAKEUY CAMP 
CHILDREN, CONSTANTINOPLE 

An interesting piece of volunteer work is being done for 
the children of Ortakeuy Camp, Constantinople. Miss Ar- 
zumanian, an Armenian woman with some experience in 
teaching and kindergarten work, was very anxious to bring a 
little interest into the lives of the camp children who were 
not going to school. She was at that time taking a course in 
pedagogy at the Y.W.C.A., and asked Miss White to help 
her in getting in touch with the camp authorities. Miss 
White took the matter up with the Near East Relief, and per- 
mission was obtained to use a room in the Armenian Na- 
tional School at Ortakeuy. 

In this room, Miss Arzumanian has established her 
school of fifty children. A blackboard, pencils, and paper 
have been provided by the girl clubs of the Y.W.C.A. The 
benches are borrowed from the Armeuian church every 
Monday morning and returned every Saturday night. Sev- 
eral volunteers from the Y.W.C.A. training classes give the 
children gym work and story-telling. The Near East Relief 
has provided charcoal to heat the little school, and oilcloth 
for the rough tables. The bright colored oilcloth is the 
delight of the children's hearts. 

Altogether the little school is booming, and it gives us 
great pleasure to congratulate Miss Arzumanian and the 
Y.W.C.A. on the splendid spirit which has overcome all dif- 
ficulties and made these results possible. 

C. Welles 

General Relief Department 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


3 


• SHOPS LOOTED 

The month of March was inaugurated with a series of 
bread riots in Alexandropol, due to the refusal of the local 
merchants to accept the current depreciated currency. Prac- 
tically all the bread shops were broken open and looted. 
The food situation throughout the Alexandropol district will 
be very serious for the next few months, and the scarcity of 
foodstuffs is complicated by the monetary situation. A half 
dozen different varieties of paper money are in circulation, 
and almost all equally valueless. 


A VISIT TO THE ARMENIAN CATHOLIC 
ORPHANAGE FOR BOYS, KADI-KEUY, 
CONSTANTINOPLE 

100 orphan boys and 120 day pupils are enrolled at 
Kadi-Keuy. Five Armenian Catholic Fathers of the Mekhi- 
tarists of Venice, a branch of the Benedictines, are in charge 
■of the orphanage and school. 

The school is beautifully located on the Marmora. The 
buildipgs, which are given rent free to the Catholic Fathers 
by the Capuccini Monks of France, consist of a large central 
school and administration building, a good dormitory and 
gymnasium, and a small hospital building that was formerly 
the gatekeeper's lodge. 

Upon our recent visit to the orphanage, we were first 
shown the attractive little chapel where daily services are 
held. From there we went to the gymnasium and watched 
the drills and formations of forty-five boy scout orphans. 
These boys made a fine appearance in their neat uniforms. 

The boys in the orphanage have an unusual opportunity 
for good academic training under specialized teachers. An 
advantage of having day pupils in the school is that the or- 
phans have the chance of coming in close contact with boys 
of the same age living in regular homes under normal con- 
ditions. 

The dormitories are located in a sparate building which 
is kept immaculately clean. Each boy has his own bed and 
toilet articles. In the kitchen we found several boys at work 
helping the cook prepare the mid-day meal. A good quality 
of bread is served. Twice a week the boys have meat and 
once a week fish. Tea, bread and olives is the standard 
breakfast. 

In the little hospital, we found one sick boy. Two 
others were being cared for at the Armenian Hospital at Ye- 
di Koule. In return for the privilege of conducting a clinic 
in the hospital buildng, the Armenian Red Cross at Kadi- 
Keuy gives the daily services of a Red Cross doctor to the 
orphanage free of charge and also provides free medicines. 

Thirty-two boys are apprenticed out in Stamboul to learn 
various trades. They go back and forth on the ferry boat 
and take their lunch with them from the orphanage. Within 
the last four months, sixteen boys have been discharged as 


self-supporting. It is the special work of one of the Fathers 
to keep in touch with the discharged boys and give them 
any advice or assistance that seems necessary: 

There is plenty of space at Kadi-Keuy orphanage to ac- 
comodate 100 more boys if money could be found to pay 
for their food. In an institution as well run as the Kadi Keuy 
Catholic Orphanage, is seems a ptty to allow the space to 
remain unoccupied. 

Glee Hastings 
Orphanage Department 


PERSONAL PARAGRAPHS 
FROM KAZACHI POST NEAR EAST RELIEF 
ORPHANAGE, ALEXANDROPOL 

Mr. F. P. Freeman, of Orange, N. J., the Superintendent 
of Agricultural work in the Alexandropol Area, has spent the 
past few weeks in Erivan where he is installing a system of 
gardens for refugees. 

Exhibitions of native Armenian and Georgian folk dances 
were an interesting feature of a reception given by the 
American personnel on March 4th to the native personnel 
of the Kazachi Post orphanage. The official hostess was 
Miss Elizabeth Gillespie of Detroit, Chief Nurse of the 
Kazachi Hospital. 

Mr. Roy Davis, of Monticello, Ark., the Superintendent 
of Education, reports that nearly 2,000 girls are now enrolled 
in the Industrial School. There are 500 girls enrolled in the 
night schools. 

Mr. F. B. Applebee, of New York, the Regulating 
Officer at Alexandropol, has spent the past fortnight in 
supervising the installation of a new accounting system at 
Seversky Trachoma Orphanage. 

Miss Grace Blackwell, of Hamilton Square, N. J., is a 
recent addition to the nursing staff of Kazachi Hospital. 
Miss Blackwell is a veteran in Near East work, having spent 
the past year at Samsoun in charge of the Samsoun Near East 
Relief Hospital. 

The first successful attempt to climb to the top of 
Mount Alagos, near Alexandropol, has just been accomplished 
by two members of the Near East Relief, R. H. Anderson, 
of Middleton, Conn., and Mr: Roy Davis, of Monticello, Ark. 
Mt. Alagos is 13,500 feet in height, ranking with Mt. Blanc 
and other European peaks in altitude and difficulty of ascent. 
The two Americans made their way nearly to the snow line 

on American army mules, and finished the ascent by nine 
hours hard climbing. 

ARMENIAN REFUGEES IN BEIRUT 

(Extract from letter of Mr. H. B. McAfee, Managing 
Director, N.E.R., Beirut ) 

Beirut is again dotted with refugee camps. Five hundred 
Armenian refugees are living in the caves along the seashore 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


which are mostly unfit for human habitation. Fourteen 
hundred are living in what we call "the tent camp” and 
"the Greek Church camp”. Scattered in the territory beyond, 
in various kinds of shelter, private tents, sheds, and wrecked 
houses, are more than two thousand, while in Beirut proper 
there are over one thausand. Along the seacoast in the fifty 
miles from Sidon to Mameltein, we now have over seven 
thousand, and this does not include the hundreds who have 
gone up into the Lebanon villages not far from Beirut. 

With the depressed state of business, it seems too much 
to hope that these people can be absorbed into the industrial 
life of this limited community in the near future. 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Dustan, Charlotte A. R., Dorchester, Mass., Secretary. With 
A. R. C., France ; assigned to work in Caucasus Area. 

Marlin, Anne M., Pittsburgh, Pa., Secretary. Secretarial and 
Accounting work, Europe, since 1918 ; assigned to 
Caucasus Area. 

Clark, Charles Robinson, Dundee, N. Y., Accountant. Or- 
dinance Dept., Washington, 1918-1919; Auditor for 
War Department, 1920-21 ; Auditor, A. R. C. Com- 
mission to Western Russia and Baltic States ; assigned 
to Caucasus Area. 

. / 

Clark, Mrs. Charles Robinson, Relief worker. Formerly in 
relief work in Russia ; speaks German, French, Rus- 
sian ; assigned to Caucasus Area. 

Evans, Dr. John H., Norwich, Conn., Surgeon. Graduate 
Columbia P. and S., Class, 1902, four years' experience 
in surgery in the U. S. Army ; assigned to Caucasus 
Area. 

Evans, Mrs. John H., Norwich, Conn. Experience in nurs- 
ing and teaching ; assigned to Caucasus Area. 

FI ard castle, Miss Ella Jane, Cleveland, Ohio. Photographic 
work. Graduate Sothern Photo School; with Na- 
tional Board Y.W.C.A. three years as photographer. 

Archer, Laird W., Wichita, Kansas. Publicity work. News- 
paper and editorial experience ; with Governor Henry 
J. Allen of Kansas, 12 years ; formerly Depnty Senior 
Officer, War Work Council, Y.M.C.A., Greece. 

Archer, Mrs. Laird W., Wichita, Kansas. Secretarial work. 

Cook, William Edwards, Independence, Iowa. Warehouse 
and Supply work. Director American Red Cross 
Warehouse, Paris, three years ; assigned Caucasus Area. 

Denniston, Martha Durand, Chicago, III. Work with' child- 
ren, American Red Cross ; volunteer worker paying 
own expenses ; assigned to Caucasus Area. 

Van Coover, Jeanne, Relief worker ; Director Popular Health 
Instruction, League of Red Cross Societies. Geneva, 
1920-21 ; assigned to Caucasus Area. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

On Tuesday, March 14th, a dance was given at the Near 
East Relief personnel house t(5 announce the engagement of 
Miss Beatrice Johnston to Captain William R. Brazier of the 
British Army. 

Mr. P. N. Prins, of Holland, Mich., left Constantinople, 
March 6th, for work with the Sivas Unit, Anatolia Area. 

Miss Bernice Everett, of Wollaston, Mass., sailed March 
13th on the tourist ship “Carmania.” Miss Everett, who has 
spent three years with the Near East Relief, is returning to 
the United States via Egypt. 

Miss Gertrude Anthony and Mrs. A. Burt, of Berkeley,. 
Cal., returned to Constantinople March 10th from a leave of 
absence in the United States. Miss Anthony is returning to 
her work in Marsovan, and Mrs. Burt is resuming her former 
work in connection with the large boys' orphanage at Kooleli. 

Miss Constance Sheltman, of Louisville, Ky., Director of 
the Industrial Department of the Near East Relief, Constan- 
tinople, left for Istnid, Maach 23rd, in connection with in- 
dustrial work for Miss Holt’s orphans. 

Miss A. H. Chickering, of Worcester, Mass., returned 
from a vacation in Italy and Vienna, March 20th, and is 
awaiting assignment in Constantinople. 

Dr. W. C. Pearce, Associate General Secretary of the 
World’s Sunday School Association, stopped a few days in 
Constantinople while on his world trip concerning Sunday 
School work. Dr. Pearce visited a number of the Near East 
Relief orphanages and refugee camps. 

Miss Anne M. Marlin, of Pittsburg and Miss Charlotte 
A. R. Dustan, of Dorchester, Mass., arrived in Constantinople 
from Paris, March 7th, and sailed March 9th for the Caucasus 
Area. 

Dr. J. K. Marden, Miss Martha D. Denniston, of Chicago 
III., Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Clark, of Dundee, N. Y., Miss. J. 
Van Coover, Mr. W. E. Cook of Independence, Iowa, and 
Mr. and Mrs. L. B. Evans, of Norwich, Conn., sailed March 
24th for the Caucasus Area. 

Mr. John R. Wood, who has been connected with the 
Near East Relief in the Caucasus Area, has. returned to Con- 
stantinople. 

Miss Fanny Noyes of Oberlin, Ohio, arrived in Constan- 
tinople from Brousa, March 23rd, and will leave shortly for 
Marsovan where she formerly was connected with the work. 

Miss Lisa Todd, of New York City, who has been con- 
nected with the Case Committee of the Near East Relief, left 
March 18th for Paris. 


Printed by H. MATTEOSIAN 
Bible House, Constantinople 


N 






Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 13 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. April 1, 1922 





CONDITIONS IN THE FAMINE AREA 
OF THE CAUCASUS 

( Extracts from latest cablegrams) 

Tiflis, March 14th. "With gradual break up winter in 
mountain villages of Central Armenia, Near East Relief in- 
vestigators revealed terrible starvation conditions, especially 
among refugees and orphan children. 

Report of K. A. Downer Concerning 
20 Mountain Villages 

K. A. Downer, of Kingston, N.Y., just returned from 
five day horseback visit to twenty mountain villages, with 
population about twenty-five thousand, says: 'Foodstocks 

through district exhausted. Bread is being made of substi- 
tutes having no food value causing critical health conditions, 
prevailing diseases being gastric and intestinal troubles due 
to malnutrition. There is almost universal trachoma and 
large percentage of scabies, favus, and similar diseases which 
accompany food shortage. 

One-fourth of Adult Population Incapacitated 

"One-fourth of adult population is completely incapa- 
citated and bedridden from starvation. Only one in fifty of 
remainder could pass as normal under ordinary medical 
examination. 

Ten Children Dying Weekly in Small Village 

"In villages visited there were one thousand five hundred 
orphans who should be removed immediately if they are to 
live. Even small villages have weekly death list of ten child- 
ren. In many villages all children have lost their hair dur- 
ing winter owing to deficiency of food. At village of Mah- 
moudchok, I visited family which consisted fifteen persons 
one month ago — now only three remain. 

Without Seed, Fate is Sealed 

"Time for spring sowing is now rapidly approaching and 
no seed yet in sight anywhere. Hope is expressed that Ar- 
menian Government will be able to obtain supplies— par- 
ticularly barley. ‘Without seed our fate is sealed,' said 
headman of one of the largest villages.” 


MISS MABELLE PHILLIPS SHELTERS 568 NEW 
CHILDREN IN ONE MONTH 

Djelal-Oghli, Caucasus Area, March 15th. We are suf- 
fering from "growing pains” in Djelal-Oghli. Our family 
has increased 33 °/o in one month. In February we had 1114 
children. March finds us with 1682. We need buildings, 
beds, tables, benches, and good help. We are also helping 
194 children whose mothers cannot find work. 

Buildings Crammed with Children 

A building which we hoped to use as a school is being 
used temporarily as an entrance house where large groups of 
boys arriving from other districts are kept for ten days. An- 
other new building in the Stepanian barracks has been taken 
over by this department and here all new children are bathed 
clothed, treated for scabies, and vaccinated before being ac- 
cepted into the regular orphanages. At present there is too 
large a group in each of these buildings owing to the fact 
that the orphanages for the girls and the kindergarten are 
already so crowded that more children can scarcely be cram- 
med into them. A new kindergarten will relieve the whole 
situation. 

Enteritis cases in our hospital have increased from ten 
in January to thirty-one in February, following exactly the 
proportion of admissions. Nine children have died in the 
hospital during the month -all of them being recently ad- 
mitted from the refugee barracks. 

Children Beg to Learn English 

On March 1st there were 1174 children registered in 34 
classes. The children beg for English lessons. They have 
offered to do without a portion of their food if we can only 
procure an English teacher. A new school building has 
been completed but cannot be turned over at present to the 
department because of the need for a detention house for 
new boys. 

Mabelle C. Phillips 
Orphanage Department, Djelal-Oghli 


THE HIGHEST ORPHANAGE IN THE WORLD 

Five thousand feet above the sea level, surrounded by 
snowcapped peaks, is the little town of Zahleh, where one of 
the Near East Relief orphanages is situated. Mr. Shehadi 
Shehadi, of Providence, R. I. , an honorary member of the 








— 






2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


Class of 1892, Brown University, is in charge of this or- 
phanage up among the clouds. 

In 1914, one month before the declaration of war, Mr. 
Shehadi, a successful business man of Providence, returned 
to his native mountain town. The war brought harrowing 
conditions to the Lebanon mountain people, and Mr. Shehadi 
remained to help. 

In 1915, the locusts came to this region and ate up every- 
thing green -even the olive leaves. An epidemic of typhus 
set in, and many died from this disease as well as starvation. 
Mr. Paul Erdman and Mr. Shehadi worked among the people 
and gathered together the orphans of the neighborhood. 
With funds from America, sent through the Near East Relief, 
Mr. Shehadi has made an orphanage home for these children. 

The need for relief work spread far across the mountain 
plain which is located between the Lebanon aud Anti-Leba- 
non mountains, even to the ancient city of Balbek. To give 
men work, Mr. Shehadi spent some of the relief funds in 
payiug for the paving of the muddy streets of the town with 
stones. Today Zahleh streets are white and clean with the 
small even stones carried from the mountain quarry and 
placed by the men who had no work. 

Mr. Shehadi now devotes the greater part of his time in 
running a very up-to-date Near East Relief orphanage. The 
boys wear the Boy Scout uniform with the white star of the 
Near East Relief on the sleeve. They have a baseball team — 
the “Lebanon Blues and Reds.” Early in the morning in 
the clear mountain air, they are given drills and exercises by 
an athletic director. This ends with a tooth brush drill when 
all the children clean their teeth. The wholesome food, the 
fresh mountain air, and the exercises, are producing a splen- 
did bunch of boys and girls. 

Daily Mr. Shehadi makes a personal inspection of his 
orphanage, tastes the food which is being prepaied for the 
children, manages the finances, and plans the studies and in- 
dustrial work. There is a spirit of happiness and friendliness 
in this orphanage which makes a visit a pleasure. Mr. She- 
hadi's son, a boy of sixteen, born in the United States, 
wishes to return to Providence, but he states his father will 
never wish to leave his orphans. Mr. Shehadi has realized 
his ambition of bringing American ideas and ideals to these 
children of the Lebanon mountains. 

Mr. H. B. McAfee, the Director of the Beirut Area of the 
Near East Relief, is very proud of this orphanage of the 
Beirut Area at the top of the mountains. 


THE THANKS OF 22 VILLAGES 
OF THE CAUCASUS FAMINE REGION 

The following letter of thanks was received by the Near 
East Relief from the people of 22 villages in the neighbor- 
hood of Alexandropol : 

“We the representatives of 22 villages of Akbaba, in the 
neighborhood of Alexandropol, on behalf of our people, 
express our deepest gratitude and thanks to Americans and 
the Near East Relief who so liberally help our poor and nak- 


ed people in their agony of starvation. We express our un- 
bounded thanks to Captain G. E. Smith and his co-workers.” 


21 OUNCES OF BREAD PER DAY 
THE WAGE FOR BUILDERS AT DJELAL-OGHLI 

It is necessary to prepare new buildings for the growing 
Near East Relief orphanage at Djelal-Oghli, and carpenters 
and tinsmiths are busily at work. Food is worth more than 
money in this famine stricken region, and 21 ounces of bread 
is the wage per day for a builder. As the food supply is 
limited, wages cannot be raised. There are no strikes for 
higher pay as bread is a matter of life and death. The 
builders are thankful for the opportunity of earning a bread 
ration daily or receiving a garment from the Near East Re- 
lief old clothes bag. 

Mr. R. M. Davidson, of Ashland, Ky., is the Superin- 
tendent of General Relief, and is in charge of employment at 
Djelal-Oghli. 

The children and the sick receive the first consideration 
in the distribution of the limited Near East Relief food 
supplies for refugees. 


ARMENIANS OF BAGDAD SEND AID FOR 
FAMINE STRICKEN ARMENIANS 
OF CAUCASUS AREA 

The Armenian “Massis” Fine Arts Association of Bagdad 
held a cinema concert for the purpose of raising money for 
the aid of the starving Armenians in the Caucasus Area. 
The net proceeds of the concert amounted to 385 pounds 
sterling. This money has been sent through the Ottoman 
Bank to the Near East Relief, Constantinople, “for Armenian 
famine stricken people.” 


FROM FINDING A RELATIVE TO 
CHOOSING A BRIDE 

Miss Juliette C. Willing, of New York City, is in charge 
of the Inquiry and Relief Department of the Constantinople 
Headquarters of the Near East Relief. This Department has 
been the means of finding and aiding many lost relatives in 
the interior of Turkey for members of the family living in the 
United States or in other parts of the Near East. 

An inquiry comes through the New York office from a 
son in America who has not heard from his mother for perhaps 
five years. He does not know whether she is alive or dead. He 
knows only that five years ago she was living in her little 
native village near the Black Sea. His letters have remained 
unanswered since that date. Miss Willing sends the request 
to the Near East Relief Director in the region of the village, 
asking him to search. In many cases the mother has been 
found -usually far away from her little village but friends tell 
where they heard from her last, and gradually she is traced. 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


3 


Often the mother cannot write, she has lost her son's 
address during the war, and his letters have not reached her. 
The joy which a letter from the son in America brings the 
mother is well worth the trouble of searching. A check 
through the Individual Remittance Department usually fol- 
lows, and in many instances passage money to America has 
been sent. 

On March 13th, the mail from Harpoot, our farthest in- 
terior station, arrived with 117 replies to inquiries in Amer- 
ica and Turkey. The replies were dated December 9th — a 
long time to wait for an answer but well worth waiting when 
in many cases it is the first message in five years from a 
lost member of the family. 

Recently an Armenian mother, a refugee in Beirut, Mrs. 
Andonian, inquired for her son, Gulbenk, who had been at- 
tending the Trades School in Tarsus. He had left at the 
time of the evacuation and she had not heard from him. 
Miss Willing inquired through the Armenian Central Com- 
mittee and found that the boy was safe in Miss Cushman’s 
Near East Relief orphanage on the Bosphorus. 

The work of the Inquiry and Relief Department varies 
from searching for a mother or sister to choosing a bride for 
a man in America- from buying the travelling clothes of a 
child to join a father in America to the writing of letters 
concerning the allotments of sons who fought in the Amer- 
ican Army. 


ROBBERY AT THE MONASTERY 
/ OF ST. GEORGE, NEAR TREBIZOND 

The following appeal was made to Mr. James Crutcher, 
the Director of the Near East Retief, Trebizond, by the Monks 
of the Monastery of St. George, near Gumush Khane: 

“An event happened on the midnight of the 5th of 
January, 1922, which stirred the Government and the people 
around us. A band of robbers entered our monastery by 
ruining the wall. They threatened us all by daggers and 
rifles, and assembled us in one room. Then they plundered 
our clothings and mattresses and took from us all the money 
and foodstuffs we had, Four of us were wounded. Two of 
us are cured, one is badly wounded, and the fourth is mortally 
wounded. The Government authorities at once took the 
necessary steps and after four to five days three of the robbers 
were arrested but our valuables were not secured. 

“We therefore beg that the Near East Relief, which does 
not distinguish religion or race, will aid us temporarily with 
clothing at this trying time. 

The Arch-Monk, Ambrosius.” 

Mr. Crutcher made a donation from the Near East Relief 
to the Monastery in reply to the appeal. 


20% CHILDREN OF TWO REFUGEE CAMPS 
HAVE TRACHOMA 

During the month of February, all refugees in the Has- 
keuy and Psamatia refugee camps, Constantinople, were 


examined for trachoma. The following report has been made: 
In the Haskeuy camp 20% of the children are suffering 
from this eye disease, but only 8% of the adults. In the Psa- 
matia camp 20% of both adults and children have trachoma. 

The trachoma clinics of the Near East Relief are treating 
those refugees suffering from trachoma, conjunctivitus, and 
blepheritus. Very had cases of trachoma, which have not 
responded to many months of treatment with copper sul- 
phate rubs, are being sent to the American Hospital, Con- 
stantinople, for operation. 

Isabel T. Norkewicz, 

Medical Department, Near East Relief 


SEVERSKY BARRACKS 
TRACHOMA ORPHANAGE NOTES 

Alexandropol, March 10th. The total number of child- 
ren in the Seversky buildings on March 1st was 2427. Each 
child receives a daily eye treatment for trachoma. The school 
attendance is now about 75 percent of the total enrollment, 
these being the group of children who are considered in 
proper physical condition for regular school work. Actual 
hospital cases average about 240. 

Construction work on incompleted buildings is going 
forward satisfactorily despite the severe weather conditions. 
Another boys' dormitory is about half finished, the new 
laundry has been started, and a small additional personnel 
house will be ready about April 1. A blacksmithing shop, 
to be used in connection with the industrial training depart- 
ment, will be completed early in the spring. 

American visitors at Seversky during the past few days 
included Miss Katherine Pellow, of Detroit, Mich., Mr. 
Thomas Mills, of New York City, Dr. Mabel E. Eliot, of 
Lake Worth, Florida, and Mr. C. D. Morris, of Olean, N.Y. 

Captain E. A. Yarrow, Director-General of the Caucasus, 
spent a day at Seversky during his recent trip on inspection 
into Armenia. He was accompanied by two representatives 
of the American Relief Administration, Professor F. A, 
Goider of Leland Stanford Univeisity and Professor Lincoln 
Hutchinson of the University of California. The latter were 
particularly interested in the rationing system in use at 
Seversky. 

Dr. R. T. Uhls, of Kansas City, Director of the Seversky 
Hospital, is planning to spend two months this summer in Ger- 
many in the graduate study of trachoma and other eye diseases. 

Miss Nina Brailovskaya, a young Russian woman at- 
tached to the headquarters staff of the Seversky Hospital, has 
completed a series of watercolor drawings showing the va- 
rious typical stages of trachoma. The sketches were produc- 
ed under the supervision of Dr. R. T. Uhls and will be pub- 
lished in America as a contribution to the scientific study of 
trachoma. 

Mr. Charles S. Hoelzle, of Bergenfield, N. J., who came 
to the Near East Relief a few weeks ago alter a long ex- 
perience with the American Red Cross in Poland, has been 








4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


placed in charge of all construction work at Seversky, re- 
placing Mr. R. H. Anderson, of Middleton, Conn., who has 
been assigned to the rapibly increasing work of supplies and 
transportation. 


NEAR EAST RELIEF PERSONNEL DRIFTING 
TWO DAYS ON SEA OF MARMORA 

Miss Isabel Norkewitcz (Shenandoah, Pa.), Miss Gertrude 
Anthony (Berkeley, Cal.), of the Near East Relief, with Miss 
Reed and Miss Sanderson of the Y.W.C.A., while recently 
returning from Brousa, drifted two days on the Sea of Mar- 
mora in the Greek ship "Georgios’'. 

The small ship left Moudania harbour with the expecta- 
tions of reaching Constantinople in four hours but when 
well out at sea the engine failed to function. Sails were 
hoisted, and the ship finally sailed and drifted to Dog Island 
where it remained until the wind changed enough to carry 
the boat nearer the shores of Stamboul. The life boat was 
then lowered and two of the crew went ashore to secure aid. 
A tug was sent from Galata which towed the “Georgios” to 
the Galata Quay. 

Owing to the usual short trip between Brousa and Con- 
stantinople, there was little food or water on board. 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

The following new personnel arrived today, Saturday, 

April 1, on the “Themistocles” : 

Clarke, Miss Mabel, (New York City); Red Cross nurse ; 
graduate of St. Luke’s Training School, New York 
City ; 2 years with the A.E.F. in France. 

McCreery, Mrs. Betty, (New York City); Red Cross Nurse, 
graduate of St. Luke’s Training School, New York 
City ; work with the Charity Organization Society, 
New York City. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Mr. H. C. Jaquith, Managing Director of the Anatolian 
Area, Mr. George H. Dennis, of Halowell, Maine, and Mr. 
L. J. Richards, of New York City, left Friday for Brousa con- 
cerning the work of that Unit. 

Mr. B. F. Plimpton (Hollis, N.Y.), who has been Director 
for nearly one year of the Cesarea Unit of the Near East Re- 
lief in the interior of Anatolia, is on his way to Con- 
stantinople. 

Dr. Ruth Parmelee (Boston, Mass.), Miss Isabeble Harley 


(Pawtucket, R. I.), Miss Elizabeth. L. Morgan (Wilkesbarre,. 
Pa.), Miss Rebecca Parker (Pomerania, N. J.), and Mr. George 
L. Garside (Passaic, N. J.), who left the Harpoot Unit via 
Aleppo, have reached Beirut. They are returning to Con- 
stantinople. 

Miss Constance Sheltman (Louisville, Ky ), Director of 
the Industrial Department of the Constantinople Unit, re- 
turned from Ismid, March 25th, Miss Sheltman installed a 
weaving department, under the charge of an experienced 
weaver, in Miss Holt’s Near East Relief Orphanage, Ismid. 

Miss Mary Broadhead (Kingston, Pa.), who spent two 
years with the Near East Relief in the Anatolia and Caucasus 
Areas, spoke recently at a Near East Relief meeting in King- 
ston, Pa. Dr. Blanche Norton, formerly in charge of medi- 
cal work at Trebizond and Kerasund, was the lecturer. 

Mr. J. W. Van Wert (Fenton, Mich.), of Kasache Post 
District, Alexandropol, is recovering from a very serious 
illness. Dr. R. P. Blythe (Cranford, N.J.) was the doctor in 
charge. 

Mrs. S. E. Newman (Middleton, Idaho) of Djelal-Oghli, 
Caucasus Area, is recovering from an operation for abcess. 
Mrs. Newman was in Tiflis when the operation became ne- 
cessary and it took place at the Tiflis hospital. 

Mrs. Emily Block, of Tarsns, who was for over two years 
a member of the Near East Relief, has been sick with 
smallpox. 

Miss A. H. Chickering (Worcester, Mass.) has returned 
temporarily to Samsoun. After completing her work at the 
Samsoun Unit, Miss Chickering will be connected with the 
Finance Department, Constantinople. 

Born at St. Pauls, N.C., March 20th, to Mr. and Mrs. 
James Hester, a daughter, Virginia. Mrs. Hester is a daughter 
of Dr. J. P. MacNaughton of Constantinople, and sister 
of Mtss Janet MacNaughton of the Near East Relief. 

Miss Mae Shenck (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Miss Katherine 
Gillespie (New Rochelle, N.Y.) have sailed from New York 
for Constantinople. 

President M. M. Patrick, LL.D., of Constantinople Col- 
lege, left for America on March 27th, to help in a financial 
campaign. 

Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Pritchard of Robert College are leav- 
ing April 1st for America. 

Under the auspices of the Civic Welfare League of Con- 
stantinople, a special entertainment was given on March 29th 
in the Magic Cinema, the proceeds of which are to be applied 
to the opening of a Home for Rescued Girls. 

Rev. E. C. Partridge and Dr. C. E. Clark of Sivas reached 
Constantinople March 4th, coming from America via Eng- 
land. 


Printed by H. MATTEOSIAN 
Bible House, Constantinople 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 14 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. April 8, 1922 

Caris E. Mills, Editor 


AN APPEAL FROM THE HEADMAN AND PRIEST 
OF ONE SMALL ARMENIAN VILLAGE 

A letter was handed to a representative of the Near 
East Relief, while on an inspection tour in an Armenian 
mountain village, signed by the priest and headman, ap- 
pealing that the Near East Relief do something at once for 
the orphans of the small community. The letter read as 
follows : 

"Two weeks ago our village had 300 destitute orphan 
children. There are now left only 270 as thirty have died of 
hunger. If it is in your power, will you take immediately 
100 of these children ? They are absolutely destitute, and 
our village is without any resource to assist them. If some 
outside aid is not extended at once, they will soon all be dead. 

Z. Elbagian, Headman, 

E. Arutchian, Priest.” 

The above appeal is but one of hundreds received by 
the Near East Relief in the famine area. 


MEETING STARVATION FACE TO FACE 

(Extract from a report of K A. Downer, of Kingston. TV. Y.) 

Alexandropol, March 26th. The agony of famine is felt 
today acutely in the remotest corners of Armenia — more 
acutely, perhaps, than in other provinces of Caucasian Russia. 
Armenia has never been able to grow enough grain for herself. 
A considerable part of her yearly food supply has always 
come from the granary of Southern Russia. Today instead 
of grain from Southern Russia, refugees are travelling south- 
ward in search of food. 

t 

Without Implements for Farm Work 

I have just completed a trip through the Russian admin- 
istrative district lying northwest of the city of Alexandropol. 
The district contains 36 villages with a population of about 
50,000 of whom 25 percent are refugees. Only a small part 
of the district is good farm land, and the present population 
is much too large for the agricultural resources -even if the 
farmers had seed to plant. Agricultural implements and 
farm animals have been taken away on a large scale, leav- 
ing the peasants in a hopeless position to work their farms. 


A Plea for Harley Seed 

The normal agricultural products of this mountain dis- 
trict are principally barley, carrots, onions, oats, flax and 
honey. The peasant mind is fixed principally on barley as 
the staple crop, and there is a great anxiety everywhere re- 
garding the supply of seed-barley for the spring planting. 

The 25 percent refugee population of the villages is a 
heavy factor in the adverse food situation. Moreover this 
refugee population is continually increasing. Health condi- 
tions are of course a serious factor. There is one govern- 
ment hospital in this district with a capacity of 20 beds, but 
health conditions are so low that there is no attempt made to 
take serious cases to the hospital for treatment. The 20 beds 
are constantly filled but are only a drop in the bucket in the 
handling of the epidemics caused by malnutrition. 

Food is the Only Remedy 

There is no remedy for the prevailing diseases except 
food. There are large numbers of orphan children in all the 
villages. In some cases little families of orphan children live 
alone and gain a precarious living by beggingfto sustain life. 
At the present time in this region there are at least 1500 or- 
phan children who ought to be removed from the district if 
they are to live and grow up into normal beings. 

Struggle too Great for Orphans 

The lot of the children throughout the district is critical. 
Most of the orphans cannot hope to last out in the struggle 
for existence during the next three months. At the present 
time the Near East Relief is supplying a large quantity of ra- 
tions in this district, but the distribution has been subject to 
the usual difficulties of transportation. 


SKETCHES IN AN ARMENIAN KINDERGARTEN 

By Nina Brailovskya 

Nina Brailovskya, a talented young Russian girl, 
has been for the past nine months the chief interpreter 
of the Near East Relief Trachoma Orphanage in Alexan- 
dropol, Armenia. In this American Institution, the largest 
children’s trachoma hospital in the world, she has had an 
unusual opportunity to observe the various types of or- 
phans whom the Near East Relief is helping in Armenia. 

Will you spend an afternoon with me among the Ar- 
menian children in the orphan city at Seversky, Armenia? 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


It is a long way to travel, even in imagination, but your 
money has travelled there already ; your Near East contri- 
bution of six months or so ago has already reached Armenia 
and has made possible the Seversky school. 

Orphans Attend School in the Barracks 
of the Czars Hussars 

There are now fifteen hundred Armenian children in our 
school at Seversky. I have been with them since the begin- 
ning of the school and have come to love them very rnuch- 
in spite of the fact that they are of a very different nationality 
from mine. Yet they are not very different from Russian 
children or even American children. Probably childhood 
is very much the same the world over. 

Our school building is a big old stone building for- 
merly the barracks for a thousand of the Czar’s Hussars. It 
is a cold building and bare of furnishings. The school 
children have no desks or benches. Until desks and benches 
can be provided, they sit on mattresses of straw spread on 
the cold stone floor while the teacher stands in front of the 
class and teaches the lesson. 

The Adding Machine of Armenia 

The arithmetic class is assembled around a small stove 
in a rather cold corner of one of the larger rooms. No text 
book is used because books are very scarce in Armenia since 
the war. Arithmetic is taught with a large "abacus" on 
which the children learn to do addition, substraction and 
even multiplication and division, with surprising rapidity. 
The "abacus," which is probably regarded in America as a 
mere toy, is used all over the Near East by merchants and 
tradespeople. It is the national adding machine of Armenia. 

American Spools make an ‘'Abacns'’ 
for the Orphanage 

We were unable to purchase even one "abacus” for use 
in our Seversky school, so we had to make one of our own. 
Instead of little red balls for the "counters,” we used Amer- 
ican spools, carefully saved by the workers in our sewing 
rooms. Painted red and black, and suspended upon stout 
steel wire in a wooden frame, these spools make an imposing 
appearance in our classrooms. 

Ravellings used for Thread in the Sewing Room 

There is a sewing class in another corner of the big 
Arithmetic Room. Here some of the children sit on a broad 
window ledge, dangling their feet half way to the floor as 
they knit or sew. Other children are winding thread which 
is made by unravelling the fibres carefully saved from every 
waste piece of cloth. Thread is very precious in this country. 
While we get a good deal of spooled thread from America, 
we need more than we obtain, and the children learn eco- 
nomy by making their own thread from the ravellings. 

The little round stoves in the various rooms are always 
the centres of interesting groups of children. Each stove is 
topped by a pitcher of water which helps to keep the air of 
the school rooms moist and warm. 


30 Teachers and 1500 Children 

There are thirty native teachers, and the classes average 
about fifty children each. Most of the children are very 
young and the kindergarten classes are crowded. For the 
younger children there are games and songs, interspersed 
with industrial training and classes in simple arithmetic and 
languages. 


AMERICAN TOURISTS VISIT ORPHANAGES 
OF THE NEAR EAST RELIEF 

The orphanages located on the European side of the 
Bosphorus, and not too far removed from the regular sight- 
seeing routes, have been delighted this last month to receive 
visits of inspection from a number of the American tourists 
who have come to Constantinople. The visitors have been 
pleased with the condition of the orphanage children and 
surprised at the scope of ' the orphanage work in Constan- 
tinople. 

Industrial training, which will lead eventually to self- 
support, has been the phase of the work which has most ap- 
pealed to our practical-minded countrymen. The tourists 
came from every part of the Uniied States, representing the 
most varied interests, and we were delighted to have the op- 
portunity of showing them some of the orphanages. 


THE HOME FOR BEGGAR CHILDREN, 
BESHIKTASH 

The Near East Relief is cooperating with the Greek 
Central Committee in supporting a small home in Besliik- 
tash, Constantinople, for beggar children. Fifiy children 
who were formerly on the streets of Constantinople are now 
in this comfortable home, attending school and learning in- 
dustrial work. 

This home changes a child so completely that a pho- 
tograph taken upon entering has little resemblance to the 
child after a few months in the orphanage. Two children 
who were a short time ago beggars near the Galata Bridge, 
dressed in dirty ragged garments, their hair matted about 
their heads, have been transformed into two neatly dressed 
attractive children, very much interested in their industrial 
work. The children do the housework of the institution. 


FOR THE INFORMATION OF A3IE RICAN 
NURSES IN THE NEAR EAST RELIEF 

The following letter has been received from Miss Helen 
Scott Hay, Director of Nursing Service in Europe : 

"Hereafter it is urged that the nurses released from your 
field dispose of their equipment in your unit. The Paris 
and New York offices have no longer the means or the wish 
to collect and dispose of such material. In this connection 
it should be emphasized that special marks of identification, 


— 


— 


— 




— 











NEAR EAST RELIEF 


such as Red Cross buttons or other insignia, be removed 
before the articles are given away. It is also of the utmost 
importance that the capes be dyed £ entirely or that the red 
lining and red cross be removed and f disposed of separately 
from the outside of the cape.” 

On release of American Red Cross nurses from the Near 
East Relief, I shall be glad to receive articles of nurse's 
equipment. Such articles are often requested by nurses en- 
tering the interior on a second term of service. 

Emma M. Wood 
Chief Nurse, Near East Relief 


THE JANE A DELANO 31EM0RIAL FUND 


The American nurses of the Near East Relief will be 
pleased to note that the total amount of monies collected for 
the Jane A. Delano Memorial Fund in Europe is as follows : 


73.50 

46.00 
77.70 

10.00 


21.00 

123.48 


American Nurses of the Near East Relief 

„ » ,, Army of Occupation, Cobleuz 

» „ „ Albania and Montenegro 

„ ,, „ Austria 

„ „ » Baltics, including Latvia, Estho 

nia, Lithuania 

v „ „ Czecho-Slovakia 

v » „ Constantinople, American Hos- 
pital 21.00 

v „ „ Greece 13.20 

,, « „ Paris Headquarters 79.68 

„ „ „ Poland 131.00 

v „ » Roumania 19.54 

„ „ „ Serbian Child Welfare Assoc. 32.00 

Total $ 648.10 

Emma M. Wood 
Chief Nurse, Near East Relief 


AN INSPECTION TOUR TO FAMINE STRICKEN 
ARMENIAN MOUNTAIN VILLAGES 


{Extracts from report of John R. Wood) 


We pushed on our way, always with the spires of Ka- 
rachi and the towers of Alexandrcpol visible, and presently 
saw lying in the hollow at the farther end of the mountain 
plateau, a little village. This was Ohgulay, a tiny place far 
up in the mountains, with a population of two hundred and 
■eighty nine. 

The village people came out to meet us and surged 
around our sleigh — knowing that we brought them food. 
They had the look of absolute despair upon their faces. We 
•gave what supplies we could bring with us to the headman 
-or village chief. A wild shout went up when the people saw 
the food — too little to last long when divided but still a little 
food until additional supplies could come. 

We proceeded to the next village and reached it as the 
■twilight was deepening. The population again gathered 



around us and their faces appeared weird and witchlike in 
the dim light. They were fierce, wild-looking, unkempt, ap- 
pearing to have no trace of civilization, but were, notwith- 
standing, very simple and kind of heart. In this village we 
spent the night at the home of the headman. 

In the morning the features of the little village revealed 
themselves. There were just a bunch of brown huts on the 
side of the hill. We visited several of the little homes in our 
tour of the village. How shall I describe the pitiable sur- 
roundings of those people. There were little children — 
merely shadows — hollow cheeked and eyes bespeaking hope- 
less misery. Little groups stood at rude doorways and 
awaited my passing, imploring help in the name of God. I 

cannot tell you half of what I saw because no words can 
describe the misery of that assembly. 

As I passed along, they thronged around, their emaciated 
bodies showing through the rags they wore. When I told 
them I was on an inspection tour to report their needs and 
send them food, they clung to me in sheer gratitude, thank- 
ing America, kissing my hands, and even my boots. 

Five versts from the latter place, tucked as it were in the 
mountain side, lies the little hamlet of Moc Arajoh, having 
a population of five hundred. Near East supplies are being 
distributed at this village. Refugees are arriving constantly, 
bringing tales of horror of the sections which the Near East 
Relief cannot reach. The question of transportation is one 
of the greatest difficulties- the roads for many months being 
almost impassable on account of the snow. 

From Moc Arajoh the way led over hill and down dale, 
always through the deep snow. Sometimes the horses sank 
into drifts so deep that we thought we would be forced to 
shoot and abandon them. We now had ten mounted and 
three sleighs as is the customary mode of travelling in these 
snowy wilds on account of wolves. At last through the 
glasses we glimpsed Arachanta which seen by the naked 
^eye might have been taken for a clump of rocks upon the 
hillside. This village is seven versts removed from Moc 
Arajoh and is set in scenery that is awe inspiring. 

As was customary in all the villages passed, the in- 
habitants came to the doorway of the house in which we 
rested as soon as the news of our arrival had been spread. 
The people thronged into the house in such numbers that 
the owner put a guard at the door to keep some kind of 
order. To describe these people would be merely repeating 
what we had seen in the other villages. My imagination 
carried me back to the gay lighted restaurants of the cities at 
home, and it was hard to realize that the other half of the 
world lived as these people standing shivering about me. 

The road from Arachanta led now through the tractless 
snow and travelling was very slow as the path had to be 
sounded preparatory to further progress — both for sleighs 
and horses. Our way took us high into the mountains to 
the village of Tashcopri (the village of the pass), a village 
apparently destitute of houses, the living quarters being un- 
derground. We entered a kind of trench through the blind- 
ing snow and proceeded through a low doorway. We came 
to a veritable mass of rooms where live both human beings 












_ 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


and horses. In this prisonlike place we lived two days on 
account of the wind and snowstorm. On the day of our ar- 
rival there was one death in this village from hunger and 
exposure while on the second no less than four people were 
found dead in one house. 

When the storm abated, we started on our homeward 
trip to arrange for additional supplies for these villages. 
The travelling was difficult and the horses stumbled about in 
the snow. It was with a sigh of relief that we saw the huts 
of Arachanta village. After passing this village we came 
upon three wolves fighting over the body of a horse which had 
fallen in the snow. A revolver shot sent them upon their way. 

This is a short outline of our trip to the little mountain 
villages. I cannot put too much stress on the great need of 
food and clothing. The Near East Relief is doing its utmost 
to send supplies far up into the mountains to these starving 
people. 

THE AMERICAN SAILORS VISIT 
THE ORPHANS OF VARIOUS NATIONALITIES 

A group of American sailors went sightseeing in the or- 
phanages one day last week. They first visited the Himsey 
Etphal Turkish Orphanage. The next stop was at the Greek 
Trachoma Orphanage where the children danced some rhyth- 
mical Greek folk-dances, singing their own accompaniments. 

At the Armenian Red Cross Nursery, the big sailor boys 
joined some of the little children in the yard flying kites — 
bits of newspapers tied to string. A little fellow “spoke a 
piece’’ in Armenian which brought loud applause because of 
the facial animation and funny little gestures of the youthful 
actor. Upstairs in the room where the babies are kept, one 
American sailor was pleased because he made a sick baby 
smile at him. They took turns holding “Sophie,” the prize 
baby, and looked at the pitiful little foundling left on a church 

doorstep. . , _ , 

The last call of the afternoon was at the Jewish Orphan- 
age where the little girls proudly exhibited their lace and em- 
broidery, and the children sang a prayer in Hebrew and recited 
in French. Altogether it was a cosmopolitan afternoon. 

Glee Hastings 
Orphanage Department 


800 GREEK REFUGEES 
LEAVE CONSTANTINOPLE FOR GREECE 

On Tuesday, under the direction of Mr. Harry Stepho- 
poula, of the Greek High Commission, 300 refugees from the 
famine regions of Novorossisk, were sent to Greece. They 
have been temporarily housed while in Constantinople in the 
Greek Camp at Beshiktash where they have been under quar- 
antine with epidemics of smallpox and typhus. 

Tuesday afternoon the British Quay was a mass of men, 
women, children, baby cradles, pots and pans, bedding, and 
whatever household goods they had been able to save. Sick 
looking women and men sat listlessly about waiting for the 
open boat which was to carry them out to the ship in the 


harbor. A group of little boys, playing about the quay, 
looking half Greek, half Russian, in their Russian fur caps, 
were the only ones who did not seem to realize their condi- 
tion. A farmer from near Novorossisk was trying to take 
care of two little sick girls — their mother had died on the 
trip down the Black Sea. He had given his smallest child to 
the Greek Baby Home, but was trying to keep the little girls 
wiih him. 

The majority of the men are farmers, and the Greek Com- 
mission is making an effort to find work for them on the tobac- 
co farms near Kavala. This will be a difficult problem, how 
ever, as Salonique is already crowded with thousands of 
Greek refugees without work. 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Hollenbeck, Elizabeth. (Washington, D. C.), Red Cross 
Nurse ; formerly with the Serbian • Child Welfare 
Commission, Belgrade, arrived Constantinople Ap- 
ril 6th. Miss Hollenbeck will sail Monday for the 
Caucasus Area where she will be connected wtth 
the medical work. 

Churchill, Helen Gertrude (Lynn, Mass.) Red Cross Nurse; 

U. S. Public Health Service, Chief Nurse, Key 
West, Fla. and Savannah, Ga. 1919-1922. 

Murlless, Elizabeth (Hartford, Conn.) Social worker. District 
Secretary, Associated Charities, Boston ; Interde- 
partmental Social Hygiene Board, Washington; 
Junior Red Cross, Salonique, 1921. 


• PERSONNEL NOTES 

Mr. B. F. Plimpton (Hollis, N.Y.), Director of the Ce- 
sarea Unit of the Near East Relief, arrived in Constantinople 
April 3rd. 

Miss Mabel le Clarke and Mrs. Betty McCreery (New 
York City), who arrived April 1 in Constantinople, sailed for 
the Caucasus Area, April 7th. 

Mr. Augustus Green (Chicago, III.), Director of the Sam- 
soun Unit of the Near East Relief, is in Constantinople^ 
business. 

Miss Katherine O. Fletcher (Amherst, Mass.) left Cesarea 
for Angora, April 3rd, where she will temporarily assist Miss 
Florence Billings. 

Miss Theda B. Phelps (Philadelphia) and Mr. William 
Hawkes (Caldwell, Idaho) of the Sivas Unit, are on their way 
to Constantinople. Miss Phelps is convalescing from typhus 
and will spend the summer in Europe. Mr. Hawkes, after 
three years’ continuous service with the Near East Relief at 
Sivas, is returning to America to visit his family. 

Miss Irene Gaylord (Worcester, Mass.) of the Konia 
Unit, is returning to America in July. Miss Gaylord has 
been with the Near East Relief three years. 

Miss Constance Sheltman (Louisville, Ky.), Director of 
the Industrial Department, Constantinople, left April 6th for 
a month’s vacation in France. 


Vol. IV. No. 15, 16 




Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. April 15, 23, 1922 

Caris E Mills, Editor 




KEVORK V, CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS, 
SENDS AMERICA EASTER BLESSING 

Etchmiadzin, April 15th. An unique and striking ceremo- 
nial celebration took place at the Papal Palace, Etchmiadzin, 
Armenia, Easter week. The procedure was without prece- 
dent in the history of any- great Eastern church His Holi- 
ness, Kevork V, Catholicos of all Armenians and Head of the 
world’s oldest national Christian Church, received in special 
audience Captain E. A. Yarrow, Director General of the 
Near East Relief for the Caucasus Area. His Holiness bestow- 
ed his blessing upon Captain Yarrow and requested that 
the following Easter message be sent to the American people 
from the people of Armenia: 

“This Easter day the whole Armenian people desires to 
send greetings to the great American nation whose work of 
relief has been the important factor in keeping alive the 
Armenian people and their ancient faith. Your spirit of 
charity and sympathy has been an example and inspiration 
to the Christian world. 

“As Father of the ancient Armenian Church, I take 
pleasure in speaking to you for my people from the old Ar- 
menian Cathedral of Saint Etchmiadzin at the foot of historic 
Mount Ararat. You are following nobly the footsleps of 
our Great Master. Your nation is today the world's greatest 
interpreter of His broad charity and love. 

"With all our hearts, we congratulate you this Easter 
season, the great holiday of Christ's triumphal Resurrection. 
It is a season when we may properly take account of our past 
work and its future promise. All Armenians as they do this 
must include in their prayers the great American people to 
whose generosity and humane interest Armenia owes largely 
her existence. To you, the humane citizens of America, we 
extend our thanks for your unforgettable work of relief to 
all suffering nations. We pray now as always for your well- 
being, success and continued happiness. 

Kevork, Fifth Patriarch and Catholicos 
of all Armenians.” 


OPENING OF THE LARGEST MEDICAL CENTRE 
OF THE NEAR EAST RELIEF 

Alexandropol, April 20th. The largest medical centre in 
the Near East Relief was opened today at Alexandropol under 
the direction of the American Women’s Hospital Association. 
Three large hospitals, with a complete medical and surgical 
staff of native doctors, and nurses, under American super- 


vision, will care for the health of twenty thousand children in 

the orphanage cities supported by the Near East Relief at 
Alexandropol. 

Dr. Mabel Elliott is the chief representative of the American 
Women's Hospitals in connection with the work of the Near 
East Relief, having charge of the enlarging of the work of 
the Association in the Near East, as well as directing the 
medical staff. The surgical staff will be directed by Dr. 
Rowland Blythe, of Bellevue Hospital, New York City. Dr. 
R. T. Uhls, of Kansas City will be in charge of trachoma and 
eye diseases, and Dr. Elsie Graff, of Vassar College, will or- 
ganize and direct the work for tuberculosis. 

Dr. Elliott announced today plans for establishing five 
nurses' training schools in Armenia, with an initial class of 
one hundred and fifty orphan girls, and plans for establishing 
a laboratory for the study of trachoma and other eye diseases. 


INTERVIEW WITH ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT 
CONCERNING TEXTILE SHORTAGE 

Erivan, April loth. In an interview today with Captain 
E. A. Yarrow, Director General of the Near East Relief for 
the Caucasus Area, President Meanzikian of Armenia declar- 
ed that the taxtile supply of Armenia will continue pitifully 
inadequate for at least two years, owing to depletion of 
flocks of sheep and financial inability to import cotton. He 
further stated that owing to the destruction of hand looms 
during the war, it will be a long time before the country can 
manufacture cloth in pre-war quantities. 

President Meaznikian expressed pleasure that the Near 
East Relief is teaching the ancient art of weaving in the lar- 
ger orphanges. “This,” said President Meaznikian, “will 
result in hundreds of young women in the new generation 
assisting in keeping the country self-supporting and will help 
to replace the thousands of skilled weavers who have died 
during the war.” 

According to best information reaching President Meaz- 
nikian, five hundred thousand Armenian refugees have been 
clothed by the Near East Relief through the generosity of the 
American people in sending old clothes. 


TEN DEATHS DAILY FROM STARVATION 
IN ERZROOM 

The folloving is an extract from the March report of Mr. 
James H. Crutcher, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., Director of the Near 
East Relief in Trebizond: 


— 





2 NEAR EAST RELIEF 


"I only wish we had sufficient funds to render relief to 
actual starvation cases in the Erzeroom region. Within the 
city of Erzroom, there are at least ten deaths daily from star- 
vation and exposure, and a large number of the inhabitants 
of the region are dying daily from famine conditions.” 

Erzroom is a mountainous villayet, situated about one 
hundred miles southeast of Trebizond. During six months 
of the year the weather is severe and the snow very deep. 
The crops have been a failure and conditions are reported as 
serious as in the Caucasus famine area or in southern Russia. 
Trebizond is the seaport for Erzroom, and food must be im- 
ported and carried over the mountains by camels or mules. 


H. C. MOFFET, OF OHIO, TRAINS ORPHAN 
BASEBALL TEAM, ISMID 

The following are extracts from a letter dated, April 
4th, written by Harry C. Moffet, of Lebanon, Ohio, Di- 
rector of the Near East Relief, Ismid : 

“Here we are in ancient Ismid, living in partially des- 
troyed Roman Catholic Church buildings in which the Near 
East Relief is caring for some hundreds of little Armenian 
children. 

“Ismid, formerly known as Nicomedia, was originally 
named after Nicomedus, the son of its founder, King Zipo- 
etes, of Bythinia. Under the Roman Empire it was raised to 
the rank of a capital city by Diocletian. The church buil- 
dings in which we live were built on the stones of an ancient 
Nicomedian palace. 

“Life here has changed so little throughout the centuries. 
The wells, the donkeys, the wooden plows, the stone grinding 
mills, the open threshing floors, the women carrying water 
- it is the same primitive life which has been going on since 
Bible times. 

“Our orphans knew little about games as they had spent 
most of their time, previous to entering the orphanage, as re- 
fugees, wandering from place to place in search of food and 
a safe stopping place. So I have organized a baseball team, 
and I often wonder if Diocletian and King Zipocetes do not 
sit up in their graves and rub their eyes when the shout 'foul' 
goes up. 

“Though our children have had rough experiences, they 
have volunteered to cut their rations to send to the less for- 
tunate orphans of ihe Caucasus famine area. I suppose only 
those who have once been on the verge of starvation can re- 
alize what it means. They anxiously inquire for the children 
who have no food. 

“Miss Sophie Holt, of Duluth, Minn., who organized the 
Nicomedia orphanage in 1919, is returning to America for a 
much needed rest. Miss Holt has been constantly with the 
children since 1919, during the evacuation of the British 
Army, the occupation and evacuation of the Greek Army, 
and finally the occupation of the Turkish Army on June 
■20th, 1921. She deserves great credit both for the organi- 
zing and running of the orphanage under many trying con- 


ditions and for the splendid spirit which exists among the 
children. Mrs. Dorothy Sutton of Colebrook, Conn., is tak- 
ing charge of the orphanage during Miss Holt's absence.” 


EDUCATION FOR ARMENIAN CHILDREN 

By Madame Olga Romanoff 

(Madame Romanoff is a teacher in the Near East 

Relief orphanage school at Kazachi Post, Alexandropol. 

As a. teacher, her monthly salary is about two million 

roubles which would have been $1,000,000 at the pre-war 

rate of exchange, but which today is less than $6.) 

Alexandropol , March 15. Armenian children are natur- 
ally bright and have a keen -desire to learn. Speaking 
generally, they are easy to teach and make very satisfactory 
pupils. 

Of course, in an aggregation of children such as we 
have in the great American orphanage for girls at Kazachi 
Post, there are all kinds of scholars. There are many real 
dullards, but most of these are slow of mind merely because 
they have endured such a long period of suffering and star- 
vation. They gradually come back to normal as they re- 
cover from the effects of their hardships. 

Children have no Previous School Training- 

Few of our children have had any school training be- 
fore coming to the orphanage. The war dealt the Armen- 
ian school system a blow from which it has not yet begun to 
recover. We have girls of 12 and 13 who are just beginning 
to read. Five thousand of our 6,000 girls are in elementary 
classes which would be called first, second or third grade in 
an American school. 

Most of our children are daughters of peasant-farmers, 
whose parents probably knew very little of the rudiments of 
school-learning. But the Armenian peasant is no dullard, 
-he has a native wit, a sound common-sense, and a nimble 
sagacity, which makes him fine educational material. His 
daughters inherit these qualities. , 

The Armenian girl is particularly good at figures. She 
quickly masters the elementary arithmetic courses, and could 
go on to higher mathematical work if there were any op- 
portunity for her to acquire or use this knowledge. 

/ 

Teaching the children to Become Self-Supporting 

But we do not try to teach advanced subjects. We wish, 
above all, to equip these girls with a type of education which 
will be most useful to the life which they will lead in the 
new Armenia. Handicraft seems to us at present more im- 
portant than book-learning, so we let the class-room work 
rest with elementary subjects, and transfer the pupils as early 
as possible to manual-training classes, where they learn sewing, 
• knitting, weaving, and other things which will enable them 
to become useful housewives in a country like Armenia. 




NEAR EAST RELIEF 3 


Brightest Men and Women of Armenia Teach 

Orphans 

Our teachers are nearly all Armenians, and they include 
some of the brightest men and women of old and new Ar- 
menia ; a few Russians, like myself, are used as teachers of 
the Russian language. We have in all 90 teachers for our 
6000 girl students. The Superintendent of the School is an 
American, Mr. Roy Davis of Monticello, Ark., and his As- 
sistant Superintendent, John Mejloomian, is a distinguished 
Armenian educator who is a graduate of Leipzig University. 
Several of our teachers have studied in America or in Amer- 
ican colleges in the Near East. 

Children Call America their “Uncle-conntry” 

All our children learn to read and write two languages 
up here in the Caucasus Area- Armenian and Russian. Both 
•of these languages are in constant use throughout Armenia. 
The brighter children are allowed to study English also. All 
of them wish to learn English, for they have a profound rev- 
erence for America, which they call their “Uncle-country.” 

Years of refugee orphan life have left them with a 
curious inability to devote their attention solely and singly 
to any one task. Knitting is one of the best treatments for 
this mental attitude, and all the girls learn to knit. It cer- 
tainly helps greatly to bring their minds back into an orderly 
track. 

Barracks of Czar’s Soldiers becomes Girls’ School 

Our teaching work is done under great difficulties. The 
buildngs are huge stone barracks which formerly housed the 
soldiers of the Czar. These buildings are cold and very dif- 
ficult to heat in winter. There are no desks or benches, so 
the children sit tailor-fashion on straw mattresses spread over 
the floor. We are short of school-books, blackboards, and 
other equipment. Usually the teacher is the only one who 
has a text-book and lessons are mostly learned by repeating 
■over and over what the teacher reads from the book. Yet 
with all our difficulties, these little children, refugees from 
the hills and the villages, learn to study with a keen interest 
and great eagerness which is sometimes pathetic. 


AMERICAN NAMES FOR LARGEST BOYS’ 
ORPHANAGE IN WORLD 

Alexandropol, Armenia , April l, 1922. The principal 
buildings of the American “Orphan City” at Polygon, near 
Alexandropol, have just been christened. Each building will 
hereafter bear the name of one of the States of the United 
States. 

There are 64 buildings in the Polygon orphan city, 
which is the largest boys' orphanage in the world. At the 
present time, it shelters more than 5000 Armenian boy war 
orphans, together with 800 native personnel who are em- 
ployed as teachers, nurses, clerks and helpers. The whole 
is financed by the Near East Relief, which has eight Amer- 


ican representatives in charge, under W. E. Rankin of To- 
peka, Kansas, and Pasadena, California. 

The orphanage is housed in well-built stone buildings 
which were constructed twenty years ago as barracks for 
Russian soldiers, and which have been rebuilt by rhe Amer- 
icans during the past year. The entire group of buildings 
is set in a broad plain one mile from Alexandropol. The 
buildings cover more ihan 200 acres of ground and include 
schools, industrial schools, hospitals, power plant and all the 
necessary buildings for a town of nearly 6000 persons. 

A few of the principal buildings bearing the names of 
American States are as follows : 

Alabama House: Residence for local personnel No. I. 
Arizona House : Industrial School, main building 
Arkansas House : Industrial School, garage work 
California House : School No. I. 

Carolina House : Main office building 
Colorado House : Nurses' Home 
Connecticut House: Hospital No. II. 

Dakota House : Construction offices 
Delaware House: Hospital No. III. 

Florida House : Playground building 
Georgia House : Industrial school, sewing classes 
Idaho House: Industrial School, power plant and water 
station 

Illinois House : Orphanage residence No. I. (350 children) 
Indiana House : Trachoma Orphanage No. III. (350 children) 
Iowa House: Central bath-building 
Kansas House : Hospital No. I. 

Kentucky House : Industrial School, laundry work 
Louisiana House : Warehouse No. IV. 

Maine House: Trachoma Orphanage No. II. (350 children) 
Maryland House: Trachoma Orphanage No. I. (350 children) 
Massachusetts House : Orphanage Residence No. II. (350 
children) 

Michigan House: Orphanage Residence No. III. (350 children) 
Minnesota House: Orphanage Residence No IV. (350 children) 
Mississippi House : Teachers’ Residence 
Missouri House: Orphanage Residence No. V. (350 children) 
Montana House : Residence for local personnel No. II. 
Nebraska House : School Assembly building. 

Nevada House : School No. II. 

New Hampshire House: Warehouse No. I. 

New Jersey House: Orphanage Residence No. VI. (350 
chilldren) 

New York House : Orphanage Residence No. VII. (350 
children) 

Ohio House : Orphanage Residence No. VIII. (350 children) 
Oklahoma House : Industrial School, tinsmithing, carpentry, 
blacksmithing 

Oregon House : Industrial School, pottery making 
Pennsylvania House : Orphanage Residence No. IX. (350 
children) 

Rhode Island House : Orphanage XII. (350 children) 
Tennessee House : Dining Hall 

Texas House : Orphanage Residence No. X. (350 children) 
Utah House : Industrial School, poultry raising and gardening 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


Vermont House : Warehouse No. II. 

Virginia House: Residence for American personnel No. I. 
Washington House : Residence for American Personnel No II. 
Wisconsin House : Industrial School, baking 
Wyoming House: Medical laboratory and pharmacy 

Canada House : Orphanage No. XI. (receiving station, 350 
children) 


TEN AMERICAN TRACTORS PLOW 
ONE THOUSAND ACRES, ARMENIA, IN 
ELEVEN DAYS 

Erivan, Armenia, April 20, Ten American tractors, im- 
ported one month ago by Near East Relief, today completed 
the plowing of first thousand acres of farmland at Alexand- 
ropol. The work occupied eleven days and the accomplish- 
ment is regarded as revolutionary by Armenian authorities. 

Ten tractors driven by native chauffeurs, under the di- 
rection of L. R. Harthill, of Long Island Agricultural College, 
did work which according to native standards would require 
one thousand oxen and five hundred men, working the same 
length of time. 

The Armenian Ministry of Agriculture which is cooper- 
ating with the American experiment, states that the plough- 
ing of the Americaan tractors gives better results than the 
old style, and that the new American plows are better adapted 
for working soil than the native plows. The ground ploughed 
will be sown chiefly with barley after the pattern of American 
dry-farming operations. The seeds will be sown by machine 
with deep drills. This method is expected to result in fifty 
percent larger crop and require one third less seed. 

The farm at Alexandropol is one of the seven model 
American farmiig operations started this year by the Near 
East Relief for the purpose of teaching Armenian farmers the 
most modern methods for increasing yield. The Ministry of 
Agriculture is placing student farmers on each model farm 
for study and observation of American methods. American 
experts in charge include S. E. Newman, of Seattle, Wash., 
F. P. Freeman, New Jersey Agricultural College, and M. T. 
Rust of Shelburn, Indiana. 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Legge, Gertrude H. (Oxford, Mass.) Nurse; Graduate Memorial 
Hospital Training School, Worcester, Mass. ; Visiting 
Nurse Assoc., Spencer, Mass., 1910-1917; U. S. 
Army, Hot Springs, Ark., 1917— 1918 ; in charge of 
American Women’s Hospital, Serbia, 1920 — 22; as- 
signed to the Caucasus Area to join Dr. M. E. Elliott 
who is directing the American Women’s Hospital 
work in connection with the Near East Relief. 

Petty, Emilv (Berwick, Pa.) Nurse ; Graduate Mt. Sinai Hos- 
pital, New York City ; U. S. Army, France and Ger- 
many, 1 year; American Red Cross, Serbia, 1 year; 


Child Welfare work, Poland, U /2 years; assigned to 
Caucasus Area. 

Reger, Rees R. (Philadelphia, Pa.) Disbursing Officer for 
American Red Cross, Budapest, Hungary, 1920-1922 ; 
assigned to Finance Department, Constantinople. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Miss Elizabeth L. Morgan (Wilkesbarre, Pa.), Miss Re- 
becca Parker (Pomerania, N. J.), Dr. Ruth Parmelee (Boston, 
Mass.), Miss Isabelle Harley (Pawtucket, R.I.), and Mr. George 
L. Garside (Passaic, N.J.), of the Harpoot Unit, arrived in 
Constantinople, April 14th. The party left Harpoot in Jan- 
uary and have been on their way since that time, travelling 
via Diarbekir, Aleppo and Beirut. 

Dr. Mark S. Ward (Suffern, N. Y.), formerly Director of 
the Harpoot Medical Department of the Near East Relief, is 
convalescing in Beirut from a bad attack ot typhus. Dr. 
Ward will return shortly to the United States. 

Mr. C. D. Morris (Olean, N. Y.) returned to Constan- 
tinople, April 21st, after spending two months in the Cau- 
casus Area. 

Mr. and Mrs. Laird W. Archer (Wichita, Kansas), Miss 
Jane Hardcastle (Cleveland, Ohio), and Miss Gertrude H. 
Legge (Oxford, Mass.), sailed April 20th for the Caucasus Area. 

Miss Mae Shenck (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Miss Katherine 
Gillespie (New Rochelle, N.Y.) returned to Constantinople, 
April 16th. 

Mr. and Mrs. James M. Speers, of New York City, spent 
a few days in Constantinople visiting Miss Isabel Dodd 
of Constantinople College. Thfcy left Friday morning on 
their return trip to the United States via Paris. 

Miss M. L. Caldwell (Bristol, Tenn.) and Mr. Theodor 
Wieser have returned to Constantinople from the Brousa Unit 
where they have been carrying on work for the refugees. Ow- 
ing to the efficient work of the Greek Committee, it has been 
possible for the Near East Relief to withdraw its personnel. 

Mr. Fred B. Smith, Chairman of the Federal Council 
of the Churches of Christ in America, and Assistant to the 
President of the Johns Manville Company, of New York 
City, stopped at Constantinople for three days this week 
while on his world tour. Mr. Smith lectured at the Pera 
Y.M.C.A., Tuesday and Wednesday, to a representative 
group of the many races living in Constantinople. Tuesday 
afternoon Mr. Smith visited the orphanage and refugee work 
of the Near East Relief. Mrs. Smith is accompanying Mr. 
Smith on his world tour and is taking a great interest in var- 
ious phases of philanthropic work. 

Mr. Walter E. Curt (Caldwell, N. J.) the Director of the 
Near East Relief refugee farm work at Rodosto, was in Con- 
stantinople a few days this week on business. Mr. H. C. Ja 
quith returned with Mr. Curt to Rodosto for an inspection 
tour of the farm project. 

Miss Caroline Ahlers, who has been connected with the 
medical department of the Near East Relief for three years, 
left for America, Friday, with Mr. and Mrs. Speers. 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 17 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. April 30, 1922 

Caris E Mills, Editor 


ERIYAN,— AND ARARAT 

An Impressionist Picture by John Dos Passos 

The distinguished American novelist writes in the cur- 
rent number of Asia, on “ One Hundred Views of Ararat.'' 
He draws a moving picture of Armenia. The following 
paragraphs are from his description of Erivan. 

Erivan ! Long straight grass-grown streets. . . . Half- 
naked children with the sagging cheeks and swollen bellies of 
starvation cower like hurt animals in doorways and recesses 
in the walls. Over gray walls here and there an apple tree 
with fruit on it. Up above, the unflecked turquoise of the 
sky, in which from every little eminence one can see the 
aloof white glitter of Ararat. They say that a dead wagon 
goes around every day to pick up those who die in the streets. 

Erivan ! Opposite the station a crumbling brown wall. 
In the shade of it lie men, children, a woman, bundles of 
rags that writhe feverishly. We ask some one what's the 
matter with them. “Nothing -they are dying." A boy, 
almost naked, staggers out of the station, a bit of bread in 
his hand, and lurches dizzily toward the wall. There he sinks 
•down, too weak to raise it to his mouth. . . Above the wall 
against the violet sky of afternoon, Ararat stands up white 
and cool and smooth like the vision of another world. 

The Sayyid has gone to the next box-car, to visit a wo- 
man who is sick. He comes back saying she has typhus, too 
far gone, nothing to do, will die in a couple of hours. We 
watch the other people in the car stealing away, one by one. 
Then they bring her out and lay her on a little piece of red- 
and-yellow carpet beside the railroad track. She is a Rus- 
sian. Her husband, a lean Mohammedan with a scraggly 
beard, sits beside her, occasionally stroking her cheek with a 
furtive animal-like gesture. Her face is dead white, greenish 
with a contracted look about the mouth. She lies very still, 
her bare legs sticking awkwardly out from under a dress too 
short. Not even the red light of sunset gives any color to 
her skin. And the sun is sinking in crimson fury behind 
Ararat. From a triangular space between the slopes of the 
two mountains, a great beam of yellow light shoots into the 
zenith. 

A man is standing beside the dying woman, awkwardly 
holding a glass of water in one hand. From the other end 
of the station comes the whining jig of a Georgian tune 
played on bagpipe and tomtom, to which soldiers are danc- 
ing. The woman's face seems to shrivel as one looks at it. 
Behind Ararat a triangular patch of dazzle that rims with 
silver the inner edges of the two peaks is all that is left of 
the sun. . . . 


Down the track a speaker is saying that the East must 
settle its own problems. ... He says many fine things, but 
he does not say how the little ragged children, tiny, wide- 
eyed skeletons with hideous bellies, shall be fed or how the 
grain shall be bought for the autumn sowing. 

There are a dozen of these little children, in all stages of 
Starvation, crawling about under the cars looking for scraps. 
They are not like animals, because any other animal than 
man would long since have been dead. Some are of Moslem 
parents from Erivan, some are Christians from Lake Van, 
some of them do not know whether their parents were 
Christian or Moslem and seem to remember nothing in their 
hungry lives but this freight yard and the scraps of food the 
soldiers throw to them. 


KENTUCKY MAN PLANS LABOR 
PROGRAM, ERIVAN 

. Erivan, April 22nd. Mr. M. F. Rust, of Bowling Green, 
Ky., Superintendent of Near East Relief rationing in the Dis- 
trict of Erivan, is cooperating with the Armenian Govern- 
ment in arranging a labor program for refugee men. 

In return for rations at the soup kitchen, gangs of men 
are working on a house building project which will provide 
shelter for thousands living in the streets. Forty little homes 
have already been completed and are now occupied by ref- 
ugee families. Other gangs of workers are repairing roads 
and parks, as well as rebuilding houses which have been 
destroyed during the war. 


HUGE AGRICULTURAL PROGRAM 

Alexandropol, April 19th. Preliminary arrangements 
for a huge American agricultural program for the Caucasus 
Area of the Near East Relief have been made during the 
past six months by F. P. Freemen, of Lawrenceville Agricul- 
tural College. 

More than twenty thousand acres of farmland in the 
three most important agricultural districts of Armenia have 
been turned over to the Near East Relief by the Armenian 
Government for the agricultural program which provides 
employment for two thousand refugees and famine sufferers. 

The principal crops will be wheat, barley, potatoes, and 
onions which will be used to feed the thirty thousand Ar- 
menian orphans supported in the Caucasus Area by the 
Near East Relief. A two thousand acre farm near Alexan- 
dropol will be sown with wheat and barley, and a large farm 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


in northwestern Armenia will be devoted entirely to po- 
tatoes. The lack of seed has delayed the spring sowing, and 
the workers are waiting anxiously for a shipment. 


FARM NOTES FROM THRACE 

By Walter E. Curt 

Mr. Walter E. Curt, of Caldwell, New Jersey, is 
directing the large Near East Relief farms in Thrace 
where a number of Armenian refugees are becoming in- 
dependent farmers. Mr. Curt sends the following in- 
formation concerning the work at Suleymanli, the larg- 
est farm. 

At Suleymanli Farm, the refugees have been working 
hard and cheerfully, taking a genuine interest in the farm. 

If the crops turn out as well as conditions warrant one to 
hope, the farm will be a success and after the harvest the 
majority of the refugees will probably be able to support 
themselves. 

2203 denims of land at Suleymanli Farm have been 
planted with wheat, barley, oats, chick peas, beans, onions, 
garlic, and potatoes. 552 denims of land are now ploughed 
and ready for the planting of corn, watermelon's and can- 
teloupe. 

The farm refugees are planning to raise green vegetables . 
for sale in the Rodosto market. There is a good market for, 
and profit in, watermelons and canteloupes. The people 
are skilled tobacco raisers and each family has its own small 
carefully fenced and tended hot-bed for sprouting tobacco 
seed from which they hope to realize a good profit. 

An Orchard for one Dollar 

The planting of an orchard has been commenced at 
Suleymanli. For the absurd price of one dollar, the refugees 
bought about one hundred fruit trees in a neighboring vil- 
lage, which they have already planted near the truck gardens. 

The farm is equipped with 49 oxen, 4 water buffaloes, 

7 wagons, 21 steel plows, and 6 native wooden plows. There 
were originally 56 oxen, but seven were unfit for work and 
were killed. The meat was used for food at the farm and at 
the soup kitchens. The expense of keeping the oxen will be 
very small now that it is spring and the oxen can graze. 

The Farm School 

The school, attended by 150 children, is conducted by a 
very able and sincere man who enjoys his work and takes it 
seriously. He is himself everything from kindergarten teacher 
to principal. In the winter the flimsy-walled schoolroom 
could not be kept warm with the one small stove, but teacher 
and children kept right on and suffered nothing worse than 
an occasional cold, The teacher has organized boy and girl 
scout companies whose youngest are no more than five 
years of age. 

The farmhouses, although rude and crowded, are clean, 
tidy and comfortable. The houses were built by the refugees 


from the farm clay, the Near East Relief supplying the wood 
for the beams. The utmost economy has been insisted upon 
in the farm project, and the small amount of farm equipment 
has been put to the best possible use. 

MADAM STAMBOULTAN’S ORPHAN 
INDUSTRIAL WORK 

In one of the church buildings of the Gregorian Cathed- 
ral, Pera, Constantinople, Madam Stamboulian has organized 
industrial work for the teaching of lacemaking, embroidery, 
dressmaking, and every phase of fine needlework, to the older 
girls of the Armenian orphanages. 

Eighty five orphan girls, ranging from fourteen to six- 
teen years of age, are busy six days in the week making ex- 
quisite lingerie, fine Armenian lace and embroideries. The 
oriental girls are happy in doing this type of work, and their 
patience and speed in producing perfectly the intricate de- 
signs is fascinating. A visit to the showroom and workroom 
is well worth while. The articles on sale are exact copies of 
latest Paris models. 

Through this work, Madam Stamboulian is teaching the 
girls to become self-supporting, and is also keeping alive the 
art of making the beautiful Armenian lace and embroidery. 
The workrooms have been in operation for two years, and 
over one hundred orphan girls are now independent through 
Madam Stamboulian’s efforts. 


ARMENIAN CHILDREN 

By Nina Brailovskya 

Nina Brailovskya, a talented young Russian girl, has 
been for the past nine months the chief interpreter of the 
Near East Relief Hospital in Alexandropol. In this in- 
stitution, the largest children’s hospital in the world, 
Miss Brailovskya has had an unusual opportunity to 
study and observe the various types of orphans whom 
the Near East Relief is helping. 

Our Armenian orphans are a continnal delight and a 
continual surprise. Many of them come to the hospital in a 
pitiful state, but their response to good care and good food 
is so immediate and so satisfactory that one who works 
among them must always feel that American contributions 
to their support are thoroughly worth while. 

In the Alexandropol Hospital, we have now nearly 2500 
child patients, all of them suffering from trachoma, the 
dreadful eye disease which is the scourge of the Near East. 
All the patients are Armenian orphans, and their trachoma 
would mean ultimate blindness to most of them if it were 
not for the work which the American hospital is doing. If 
we get the orphans wihle the disease is in its earliest stages 
we can cure them in a few months. For the more advanced 
stages of the disease, a much longer time is necessary. But 
almost all of them will ultimately be cured completely, if the 
Americans continue to support our work here. 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


3 


Two hundred new patients came to our hospital today. 
A number of them were refugees just arrived in snow-clad 
Alexandropol from the remote country villages. These ref- 
ugees are, of course, all very much underfed ancj under- 
clothed. But even in their rags, they are often picturesque 
aud intelligent. 

One tall gaunt girl about fifteen years old is one of 
today's patients. She is very thin but even in her emacia- 
tion and near-nakedness, she has a certain dignity and 
more than a trace of good looks. She arrived barefoot 
through the snow which still covers the broad plain around 
our hospital buildings, but she is uncomplaining. Her 
father and mother disappeared a year ago, and until now she 
has contrived to support herself on the old farm near Kef- 
terlee. Finally the winter cold and the exhaustion of her 
last food-supply drove her into Alexandropol where the 
American relief officers found her. Her eyes are good, for 
the trachoma has only just begun, and within three months 
she will be cured. Tomorrow she will discard her one-piece 
calico garment for a suit of clean American clothes, just ar- 
rived from Philadelphia on the steamship “Allaguash." She 
will have half of a clean bed, and she will begin work in the 
hospital school and in the sewing classes of our industrial 
department. 

A smaller girl entered yesterday. She wore pointed 
shoes made from a fragment of goatskin, and she walked all 
the way from a village in the mountains. She is only ten, 
not so pretty as the older girl, but quietly appealing. 

Three hours ago, a barefoot lad was brought in. He 
'has been living in a cellar in Alexandropol with his 
last surviving relative, an old grandmother. He has not 
spoken a word since he arrived, but his silence is that of 
content and happiness. The “American Home," as he knows 
the big hospital, means a long respite from the bitter struggle 
for existence which he has been waging for the past winter 
months, and the good American doctor will soon be able 
to cure the unpleasant disease which has already begun to 
film his eyes. 


HARPOOT NEWS 

Mr. F. D. Yowell (Washington, D.C.) and Dr. Mark S. 
Ward (Suffern, N.Y.) are on their way to Constantinople 
from the Beirut Area. 

Mr. Hugh W. Gregory (Roanoke, Va.) has succeeeded 
Mr. F. D. Yowell as Director of the Harpoot Unit. 

Mr. J. H. Knapp (Los Angeles) and Miss Bessie B. Mur- 
doch (Chicago, III.) who have had charge for three years, of 
the Near East Relief work at the farthest interior station, Arab- 
3dr, are returning to Constantinople this spring. 

Miss Edith Wood (Philadelphia), who has been in charge 
■of the Medical Department, Malatia, and who is convalescing 
from typhus, is returning to Constantinople as soon as she is 
sufficiently strong to travel. 

Mr. Lester J. Wright (Waukesha, Wis.) who went to Har- 
poot last April, expecting to stay four months, has decided to 
xemain until September 1st, when he hopes to return and en- 


ter the Language School, Scutari. Mr. Wright has been in 
charge of the orphanages and refugee camps of Malatia. He 
is just recovering from typhus. 

Dr. Cyrus Zimmerman (Schaefferstown, Pa.) who is Dir- 
ector of the Medical Department of the Harpoot Unit, suc- 
ceeding Dr. Mark. S. Ward, is recovering from a bad attack 
of typhus. While still in a very weak condition, and able to 
walk but a short distance, Dr. Zimmerman went by horse- 
back through the snow to the Harpoot Hospital to attend a 
consultation of doctors at a critical period of Dr. Ward's 
illness. 

Miss Ruth Eddy (New Rochelle, N. Y.) is connected with 
the Medical Department of the Near East Relief Hospital, 
Harpoot. 

Mr. Enoch Applegate (Jersey City, N.J:), who has been in 
charge of the Refugee Department, Harpoot, has recovered 
from typhus and will remain at Harpoot until September 1st. 

It is nearly a year since Miss Ann Dingledine (Cayahoga 
Falls, Ohio) left Constantinople for the Harpoot Area. Miss 
Dingledine is Secretary for the Unit. 

Miss Ethel Thompson (Mattapan, Mass.) who is in charge 
of orphanage work for the 5000 Near East Relief orphans in 
Harpoot, is planning to leave at the end of her term of ser- 
vice by the southern route, returning to America by way of 
China. 

Miss Elizabeth Bury (Pawtucket, R. I.), of the Harpoot 
Near East Relief Hospital, has recovered from typhus and is 
planning to remain until September 1st. 

Miss Pauline Wilkowske (Manitowoc, Wis.) is connected 
with the Medical Department of the Mezereh Near East Re- 
lief Hospital, succeeding Miss Margaret MacLellan. 

Mr. Albert MacKenzie (Philadelphia) is in charge of the 
Finance Department for the Harpoot Unit. 


NEW RATION STATION, ETCHMIADZIN 

Etchmiadzin, April 10. Owing to the people of the vil- 
lages flocking to Etchmiadzin, Armenia, in search of food, 
the Near East Relief has opened a ration station for this 
district. 1565 rations were issued the first day, and this 
number will be gradually increased as the surrounding vil- 
lages are investigated. 


HARPOOT WEDDING 

On April 29th, Mr. Walter Curt, of Caldwell, N. J., 
formerly Director of the Harpoot Unit cf the Near East Re- 
lief, was married to Miss Elizabeth Morgan, of Wilkesbarre, 
Pa., also formerly of the Harpoot Unit. 

The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Dr. Frew of the 
Dutch Embassy Chapel, Constantinople. Mr. and Mrs. Curt 
left directly after the ceremony for Rodosto, Thrace, where 
Mr. Curt is Director of the Near East Relief work aud Mrs. 
Curt is taking charge of the Medical Department. 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


ARRIVAL AMERICAN FARM 
MACHINERY, ARMENIA 

Alexandropol, April 25th. A special train, carrying 
thirty carloads American agricultural machinery has just ar- 
rived in Alexandropol, Armenia. The shipment includes 
tractors, gangplows, and the most up-to-date equipment for 
wholesale farm production. The machinery was imported 
by the Near East Relief for the purpose of encouraging and 
assisting Armenian farmers to make their country self-sup- 
porting after next harvest. 

The machinery was accompanied by three American ex- 
perts from Long Island School of Applied Agriculture— Pro- 
fessor Leonard Harthill, H. A. Hall, and J. A. Cronin. These 
agricultural experts will remain the entire year directing pro- 
duction, demonstrating American methods, and studying the 
most useful adaptions of American methods to farm con- 
ditions of Armenia. 


3000 HOMELESS CHILDREN FED DAILY, 
ERIVAN 

Erivan, April 15th. The Near East Relief is supplying 
one hot meal daily to 3000 homeless children who have come 
to the city in search of food. The soup kitchen is also ra- 
tioning mothers with small babies. 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

McCaffrey, Ernest William (Cambridge, Mass.) United States 
Shipping Board, and Executive work with American 
Red Cross. Assigned to the Caucasus Area. 

Ambrose, Walter Price (Baltimore, Md.) Purchasing officer, 
U. S. Army, Camp Lee, Va.; Business Manager, Am- 
erican Red Cross, Vladivostok, Siberia ; Business 
Manager, Petrograd Children's Colony, American 
Red Cross. Assigned to Cancasus Area. 

Betts, Paul C. (Towanda, Pa,) Auditor. Finance Depart- 
ment, American Red Cross, Paris. Assigned to the 
Anatolia Area. 

Crow, Clinton William (Rye, N.Y.) Builder. National Sure- 
ty Co., New York, 1908 — 1919 ; American Red Cross, 
France, 1918 — 22. Assigned to Caucasus Area. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Captain E. A. Yarrow, (Binghamton, N.Y.) Director Ge- 
neral of the Caucasus Area, Mr. J. W. Van Wert, (Fenton, 
Michigan), Miss Grace Blackwell, (Trenton, N.J.), and Mr. J. 
R. Phelp, of the Caucasus Area, arrived in Constantinople, 
Friday evening, April 28th. Mr. J. W. Van Wert, who has 
been ill for some time, was taken to the American Hospital, 


Stamboul. Miss Grace Blackwell, of the Alexandropol Med- 
ical Department, made the trip in charge of Mr. Van Wert's 
case. 

Miss Elizabeth Thom (Chicago, III.) has been transferred 
from the Polygon District, Alexandropol, to Djalal Oghli. 

Miss L. P. Priest, (Detroit, Mich.) has been transferred 
from Erivan to the Polygon District, Alexandropol. 

Mrs. Betty McCreery and \Miss Mabel Clark (of New 
York City) who recently joined the Caucasus Area, have 
been assigned to Erivan. 

Miss Katherine Pellow (Detroit, Mich.) has been trans- 
ferred from the District of Karaklis, Caucasus Area, to Djalal 
Oghli. 

Miss Marta Denniston (Chicago, III.) has been assigned 
to the District of Djalal Oghli, Caucasus Area. 

Dr. M. E. Elliot (Lake Worth, F(orida), who has been in 
charge of the medical work in Erivan, has been assigned to- 
the Polygon District, Alexandropol, where she will organize 
the medical work which the American Women’s Hospitals 
Association is undertaking with the Near East Relief. 

Miss Sophie S. Holt (Duluth, Minn.) is in Constantinople 
on her way to the United States. Miss Holt has been in 
charge of the Nicomedia Girls' Orphanage of the Near East 
Relief for three years, and is returning to the United States 
for a much needed rest. 

Miss Margaret MacLellan (Jamaica Plains, Mass.) who has 
been in charge of the medical work of the Rodosto Unit, is 
returning shortly to the United States. Mrs. Walter E. Curt 
(Wilkesbarre, Pa.) is replacing Miss MacLellan at Rodosto. 

The engagement is announced of Edward M. Dodd, M.D- 
of Tabriz, Persia, son of Dr. and Mrs. W. S. Dodd of Konia, 
and Miss Rose Wilson, daughter of Rev. Samuel G. Wilson, 
D.D., of Persia. Dr. Dodd is at present serving as Medical 
Secretary to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, 
with headquarters in New York. 

The engagement is announced of Miss Elsa Reckman, of 
Marash Mission Station, to Mr. Stanley Kerr, of the Near East 
Relief Unit there. The wedding is to take place this summer. 

Miss Grissell MacLaren (Fall River, Mass.) has been tem- 
porarily assigned to Miss Cushman's orphanage, Constan- 
tinople. 

Mrs. N. H. Austin (St. Louis, Mo.) sailed April 23rd for 
a leave of absence in the United States. Mrs. Austin has 
been connected with the Anatolian and Caucasus Areas for 
the past two years. 

Dr. Robert Speer, Senior Secretary of the Presbyterian 
Board of Foreign Missions, spent two days in Constantinople 
on his return trip to the United States. Mr. Speer gave a 
very interesting talk at the American Bible House concerning 
conditions in the countries of the Far East which he has re- 
cently visited. 


Printed by H. MATTEOSIAN s 
Bible House, Constantinople 





Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 18 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. May 7, 1922 

Caris E. Mills, Editor 



E. A. YARROW SPEAKS ON ARMENIA 

An interesting event in the history of the Armenian people 
in Constantinople took place Friday .afternoon, May 5th, in the 
National Library of the Gregorian Trinity Church, Constan- 
tinople, when the chief representatives of the Armenian nation 
gathered together to receive Captain E. A. Yarrow, Director 
General of the Near East Relief for the Caucasus Area, 
and to thank America for the aid sent to famine sufferers in 
Armenia. 

The three great Armenian religious representatives joined 
in giving thanks- His Holiness, Zaven, Patriarch of the Gre- 
gorian Armenians, His Holiness Monseigneur Nazlian, Pat- 
riarch of the Armenian Roman Catholics, and Professor Bez- 
djian, the Head of the Armenian Protestants. Around them 
were grouped the Archbishops, the Prelates, members of the 
Mixed Council of the three churches, the President and Mem- 
bers of the National Council, Representatives of the present 
Government of Armenia, the Diplomatic Representative of the 
Armenian Republic, the President and Vice President of the Ar- 
menian Red Cross, Representatives of the Society of Help to 
Armenia, and Representatives of the Armenian Press. Madam 
Stamboulian, Vice President of the Armenian Red Cross, was 
the only woman representative. 

His Holiness, Zaven, Patriarch of the Gregorians, gave 
the address of welcome for the Armenian nation, thanking 
the American people through Captain Yarrow and the Near 
East Relief for their aid, stating that it symbolized the 
charity, sympathy, and brotherhood of a great nation for 
a small nation broken by famine and hardships. 

Captain Yarrow replied in Armenian, giving an outline 
of present conditions in Armenia with practical suggestions 
for the future. He expressed great respect for Mr. Miasnigian, 
President of Armenia, who, in Captain Yarrow’s estimation, 
is doing his utmost to really help the people. 

Captain Yarrow further said, “The present Cabinet of the 
Armenian Government is made up entirely of Armenians, and 
they are doing their best under trying circumstances to help 
the famine sufferers and rebuild the country. Improvement 
for Armenia should come through evolution, not revolution. 
Though the situation is precarious, Armenia still lives. Of 
400,000 needy, 150,000 are in a starving condition, but great 
efforts are being put forth both by the Near East Relief and 
by theArmenians themselves to meet the situation. The Min- 
ister of Food Supplies of Armenia is cooperating with the 
work of the Near East Relief in every way possible. At Alex- 


andropol alone, the Near East Relief is caring for 18,000 or- 
phans, and there are 30,000 children in our orphanages in the 
entire Caucasus Area.” 

Captain Yarrow mentioned especially the good work of 
the Armenian Medical Committee, which was sent to the 
Caucasus by the Armenian Red Cross, and the work of the 
Society of Help to Armenia. In speaking of the Boy Scouts, 
he said, “I cannot speak too highly of the three Armenian 
Boy Scout representatives who started the Boy Scout work 
in the Caucasus Area. Children who had spent their entire lives 
hunting for food like little animals were given the Scout 
training and were literally transformed. The Boy Scout work 
in the orphanages has produced marvellous results.” 

His Holiness, Monseigneur Nazlian, the Patriarch of the 
Armenian Roman Catholics, then expressed the deep gratitude 
of all Armenians in all parts of the world to the American 
nation, not only for material assistance, but for moral support, 
giving strength to the Armenian heart to strive to live, to work, 
to hope. 

Before departing, Captain Yarrow answered many ques- 
tions concerning Armenia and the relief work. He described 
the efforts of the Near East Relief to fight trachoma, and 
gave a brief outline of the huge agricultural program of the 
Caucasus Area. 


CONCENTRATION OF BEIRUT AREA ORPHANS 

Beirut, April 30th. Mr. Howard B. MacAfee, Managing 
Director of the Beirut Area of the Near East Relief, has 
been very successful in carrying out the plans for concentrat- 
ing the orphans of the his Area in four large orphanage 
groups. 

Permission has been obtained to move the orphans from 
Mardin, Ourfa, Aleppo and Marash to orphanage centres 
near the Beirut Headquarters. This will be a huge saving in 
transportation, personnel, and overhead expenses, and it will 
result in placing the orphanage work of the Beirut Area on 
a permament basis. Although the concentration program 
will be of great benefit to the Near East Relief in reducing 
expenses, the main benefit will be for the orphans themselves. 
This move will enable the Near East Relief to install an educa- 
tional and industrial program which will better equip the 
children for good citizenship and independence when they are 
old enough to leave the orphanage. 

1000 Armenian boys will be located in ancient Jebail, a 
port on the Syrian coast from which the Cedars of Lebanon 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


were shipped for the Temple of Solomon. The 500 Ar- 
menian children who were moved last year from Aintab are 
already at this orphanage which- is under the charge of Mr- 
R. P. Travis, of Geneva, N.Y., and Miss M. Ward, of Boston. 

1200 Armenian girls will have a home at Ghazir, far up 
in the Lebanons, where Mr. and Mrs. Louis Foley, of Colum- 
bus, Ohio, are now in charge. This orphanage is located in 
the former buildings of a Catholic Convent, and the village 
Priest is one of the teachers in the orphanage school. 

The splendid orphanage compound at Sidon will be 
a large concentration centre for the 1500 Syrian speaking 
orphans. This large group will be directed by Mr. Stuart 
Jessup, assisted by Mrs. Alma Kerr, Mr. Porter Morris, and 
Mr. Forid Bustany. 

Negotiations are now under way for the renting of 
-abandoned silk mills in the Lebanons which will be fitted 
into comfortable orphanage buildings for the balance of the 
children. Ourfa and Mardin orphans have already been 
moved, and the other children are gradually coming to 
Beirut. 


PENNSYLVANIA FOOD SHIP SAVES LIVES 

Constantinople, May 6th. Mr. Frank S. Young, of Phila- 
delphia, who was in charge of the supplies on the S. S. 
‘'Allaguash”, the food ship sent from Pennsylvania to Ar- 
menia, has returned to Constantinople. The supplies were 
safely unloaded at Batoum and are now in Alexandropol 
helping to feed the 18,000 Near East Relief orphans as well 
as children coming to the city from the famine areas. 

While in the Caucasus Area, Mr. Young visited the 
various units, and made the following statement : "I am 

tremendously impressed with the magnitude of the work and 
efficient way in which the personnel of the Near East Relief 
are operating it. The need of these unfortunate people is even 
greater than I had pictured it, and on all sides I was the re- 
cipient of thanks from these war and famine sufferers for the 
efforts America is putting forth to save them.” 

"To celebrate the arrival of the food in Alexandropol, 
a special ration of sweet cocoa was given out. The faces of 
the children w-ere pictures of happiness when they tasted the 
sweet chocolate. For many months they have longed for 
something sweet to eat or drink, and the children of the 
Philadelphia schools sent it on the "Allaguash”. 

"I cannot emphasize too strongly the need for food and 
old clothes in these areas. People are dying daily from ex- 
posure and starvation, and every scrap of food on the "Alla- 
guash” is playing its part in saving lives.” 


DAILY LIFE WITH NINE HUNDRED BOYS 

Mrs. A. Anthony Burt, of Berkeley, California, who is 
aiding Dr. Der Stepanian with the largest Armenian boys’ 


orphanage in Constantinople, sends in the following report 
concerning the progress of this institution : 

There are 900 boys in the Kouleli Orphanage which is 
situated on the Asiatic side at the edge of the Bosphorus. 
During the last nine months the general tone of the or- 
phanage has improved greatly. The boys are beginning to 
do a large portion of the housework themselves, and a super- 
intendent of cleaning has been appointed who takes a real 
interest in systematizing his work. 

Early in April the orphanage physician started a campaign 
against insects, dormitory by dormitory. Blow torches were 
used on the walls and iron beds, and all holes in' the walls 
were plastered. Beds were washed, new boards were put in 
where needed, and the old straw mattresses replaced by Eng- 
lish Army "biscuits.” The wooden bedsteads have been 
knocked down, the blow torch applied to all pieces, and the 
carpenter shop has planed and practically made new beds 
from old. This work has all been done by the boys. 

In the dining room, each table seats twelve boys, one of 
whom acts as "chief,” bringing from the kitchen and serving 
the food. Beginning the middle of this month, the "chief,” 
will wash the dishes at his own table, leaving the table ready 
for the next meal, and wiping the floor under and about the 
table. This will eliminate four emplqyees — three w'omen 
dishwashers and a dining room man. Seven older boys, 
who have proved themselves competent and reliable, super- 
intend six tables each of the smaller boys during the dish- 
washing and floor cleaning process: It is encouraging to 

find what thoroughness they demand and with what willing- 
ness the little fellows scrub the oilcloth of their tables, clean 
the floor, and wash their dishes, towels and aprons. 

One of the young superintendents has begun keeping a 
record of each of his six boys, marking them for neatness 
and efficiency. When they have finished their work, he 
gathers them about him and talks to them, and then they 
inspect each table before leaving the dining room. The 
dining room work is done in rotation. 

This method of doing the work is proving effective in 
making the boys take an interest in the appearance of the 
room. Occasionally one hears a boy tell another to clean 
the mud from his shoes before coming to the dining room. 

Two committees of three senior boys each have been ap- 
pointed to inspect classrooms and dormitories daily. The 
boys help sort and fold the clothes and clean the laundry at 
odd times, as school work permits. Later it will be a regular 
rule. 

Two boys, about fourteen years of age, help on alternate 
days in the clinic, and it is interesting to watch them drop 
oil in ears, aregol in eyes, apply iodine or ointment and even 
put on bandages. The hospital is nearly empty -only two 
or three patients at a time. A dentist comes three afternoons 
a week, his equipment being furnished freefof charge. Dur- 
ing the past month, he has treated eighty“boys. 

The mending room, where the boys go to mend their 
own clothing under the supervision of a woman, is a busy 
place almost any hour of the day. The boys are learning to 
mend neatly and keep their clothes in good repair. 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


3 


Every inch of the garden available has been dug up and 
planted, but so far the stones and refuse remain. It all takes 
patience. Part of the running track has been graded by the 
boys but rain has interfered. 

The carpenter shop is a place of great activity. The 
boys are really learning to handle their tools more or less 
■expertly, and several are ready to be apprenticed out. 

All in all, the past month has been a small but encourag- 
ing step forward. 


REFUGEES IN THRACE 

Rodosto, May 1. During April, 4482 refugees who are 
Jiving in old barracks at Rodosto were fed at the soup 
kitchens of the Near East Relief. Three times a week bean 
soup is given out, twice a week rice soup, once a week po- 
tatoes, and once a week meat. 

There are schools for the refugee children in each of the 
-barracks, and certain rooms of the public school buildings in 
Rodosto are given over for the use of the refugee children 
who live in the town. The equipment of books, benches, 
etc., however, is very meagre. The Near East Relief pays 
fifteen teachers to carry on the school work for the 770 
children who are attending classes. 

Medical clinics are held five days a week, about 1000 
-cases being treated monthly. The Medical Staff consists of 
Mrs. Walter Curt, the native doctor, and two native nurses. 

Mr. Walter Curt, of Caldwell, N. J., Director of the 
Unit, is insisting upon the utmost economy in ^carrying on 
the work. The refugees do much of the work in connection 
with the soup kitchen in return for rations. 


THE PR1NKIPO GREEK ORPHANAGE 

The Prinkipo Greek Orphanage, sheltering 809 Grfeek boys, 
has au ideal location in a pine grove, at the highest point on 
the island of Prinkipo in the Sea of Marmora. The building 
was originally intended for a summer hotel but proved to be 
too far from the water for a paying proposition. It was 
therefore purchased at a low rate by the Greek Committee 
for an orphanage. It is surrounded by ample grounds with 
plenty of space for sports and gymnastics. The boys con- 
sider it an honor to be allowed to work in the two or three 
ceres set aside for gardens which produce at a low cost the 
fresh vegetables for the dining room. 

Marked improvement has been made in the cleanliness 
of both the building and the boys since the installation of 
the enginedor pumping water up the hill to the orphanage. 
This pump was made possible by a special gift from Amer- 
ican Greeks, the original gift being doubled by the Near 
East Relief. Previous to the purchase of the pump, the 
water used for cleaning purposes had to be carried up the 
high hill by the boys or on donkeys. 



The boys make their own beds and clean the floors. A few 
of the smaller boys sleep two in a bed, but the larger boys 
have beds to themselves. In the large dining-rpom which 
seals over 500 boys at a time, we found a number of little 
boys in blue aprons, busily at work sweeping the floor after 
their luncheon, and setting the tables for the next meal. 
There is only one woman in charge of the dining-room. 
The boys, divided Into groups, with leaders for each group, 
take turns in cleaning, serving, washing dishes, and setting 
the tables. They also help in the kitchen by preparing veg- 
etables etc. 

Meat is served to the boys twice a week, and fresh veg- 
etables three times a week. There is a great need for fresh 
fruit but this cannot be purchased from orphanage funds 
because it is too expensive. At Christmas and at Easter, 
gifts of oranges were made to the children. 

At this orphanage, 300 children with trachoma are isolat- 
ed for treatment. They sleep in a separate dormitory, have 
a special dining-room, play in a particular section of the 
grounds, and are provided with special school books. It is 
not au ideal method of isolation but the best that can be had 
under the present crowded conditions and the lack of funds 
for running a separate institution. The Greek eye specialist, 
Dr. Trentos, inspects the trachoma work at least once in two 
weeks and performs all necessary operations. 

Regular class work of elementary grade is conducted for 
all the boys, and 300 of the older boys spend half their time 
in industrial work. There are three shops of 100 boys each for 
carpentry, tailoring and shoemaking. Excellent furniture is 
made in the furniture shop, and in spite of the more or less 
inaccessible location of the orphanage, many orders are taken 
from Constantinople for furniture, .with the result that the 
shop is self-supporting. Many more orders could be filled 
and more boys given the opportunity of learning the trade 
if funds were available for additional equipment. 

The orphanage is in charge of the Greek Central Com- 
mittee which has under its care 1500 Greek orphan boys and 
girls in and around Constantinople. The Greek Govern- 
ment supplies a certain amount of money for the monthly 
budget, and the Greek residents of Constantinople raise funds 
monthly which are doubled by the Near East Relief. 

Glee EIastings 
Orphanage Department 


BAGDAD ORPHANS MOVE TO JERUSALEM 

Jerusalem, April 25th. The Jerusalem Armenian Mon- 
astery is now the home of 830 Armenian orphans who have 
been until recently supported by the Near East Relief in 
Bagdad. The British transported the children, free of charge, 
from Bagdad to Jerusalem. The orphans are now being 
cared for by the Near East Relief of the Beirut Area, with 
Bishop Tourian, formerly of Constantinople, in charge of 
the orphanage. 



NEAR EAST RELIEF 


SAMSOUN N.E.R. SERVES 944,025 MEALS 

Sarnsoun, April 25th. Samsoun, although one of the 
smaller stations of the Anatolia Area of the Near East Re- 
lief, has given out since January 944,025 free meals. The 
food relief has been distributed as follows : 

Bread-line, daily average, 1930 
Soup and bread for war refugees, daily 
average 1700, or 

Orphans, 1580 receiving 3 meals daily, or 
Hospital patients, 225 daily average. 3 meals or 


214.200 meals, 

188,700 meals, 

466.200 meals, 
74,925 meals, 


Near East orphanage department in Mardin until the recent 
removal of the orphans to Beirut, will remain in Mardin with 
the Mission. 

Mrs. Alma Kerr is assisting Mr. S. D. Jessup at the large- 
Sidon orphanage centre which is to be a concentration point 
for 1500 Syrian, children. 

The Rev. Mr. MacAfee, of Los Angeles, brother of Mr. 
Howard B. MacAfee of the Beirut Area, is a guest at the per- 
sonnel house, Beirut. The Rev. Mr. MacAfee is on an ex- 
tended tour through the East. 


944,025 

n addition to the food relief, 1000 donations of cloth- 
ing, blankets, etc., have been made during the same number 
of weeks. In the Near East Relief Hospital, 435 prescrip- 
tions have been filled and 755 dressings have been furnished 
to the people of Sarnsoun who are too poor to pay for med- 
ical aid. 

Three Americans Carry on Entire Work 

Three Americans are directing this large piece of relief 
work. Miss Edna F. Steiger, of Williamsport, Pa., has charge 
of the medical work, Mrs. Edna Ashley Basset, of Los An- 
geles, California, is in charge of the three orphanages and 
general relief, and Mr. Augustus Green, of Chicago, III., 
Director of the Unit, plans the work, and is in charge of 
shipping supplies and forwarding telegrams and mail to the 
large interior N.E.R. stations. 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Tognazzini, Dr. Irene (California), M. D. Leland Stanford 
University, 1916 ; In charge of one of the American. 
Women’s Hospitals, Serbia, 1920 — 22 ; assigned to 
Caucasus Area to join Dr. M. Elliott in the work of 
the American Womens' Hospitals with the Near 
East Relief. 

Cruikshank, M. (Portland, Oregon). Surgical Nurse ; First 
Assistant to Dr. R. C. Coffey, Portland, Oregon, for 
six years ; with the American Women’s Hospitals, 
Serbia, 1921 -22 ; assigned to Caucasus Area to join 
Dr. M. Elliott in the work of the American Women’s- 
Hospitals with the Near Eost Relief. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 


NEWS OF THE BEIRUT AREA 

Dr. Mark S. Ward and Mr. F. D. Yowell, who arrived 
recently in Constantinople via Beirut, have given the follow- 
ing notes concerning personnel in the Beirut Area : 

Mr. Milo Zimmerman and Miss Dora Kerschner, of the 
Mardin Unit, Beirut Area, are returning to Beirut. Mr 
Zimmerman will leave shortly for America. 

Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Knudsen, formerly of the Aleppo 
Unit of the Near East Relief, are now located in Beirut. 
Mr. Knudsen is Treasurer for the Beirut Area, and Mrs. 
Knudsen is in charge of the Beirut personnel house. 

Mr. Howard B. MacAfee, Managing Director of the 
Beirut Area, has just returned from an extended trip through 
the interior, covering all stations of the Beirut Area. 

Mr. Herman Kreider is replacing Mr. J. P. Knudsen in 
the Aleppo Unit. Mr. Kreider has been until racently in the 
Transportation Department in Beirut. 

Miss Louise Law has returned to Beirut from Marash, 
and is temporarily assigned to the Sidon orphanage. 

Miss Emily I. Wade is Director of the Diarbekir Unit of 
the Beirut Area. Dr. Abbey Little is in charge of the med- 
ical work for this section and is assisting Miss Wade. 

Miss Agnes Fenanga, who has been connected with the 


Mr. E. W. MacCaffrey (Cambridge, Mass.), Mr. W. P_ 
Ambrose (Baltimore, Md.), and Mr. Clinton W. Crow (Rye,. 
N. Y.), sailed May 5th for the Caucasus Area. 

Mr. Frank S. Young, of the Philadelphia Near East Re- 
lief, who sailed to Batoum on the “Allaguash”, the food ship 
sent from Pennsylvania to Armenia, is in Constantinople. 

Miss Constance Sheltman (Louisville, Ky.), Director of 
the Constantinople Industrial Department, is returning from, 
a vacation in Paris, May 6th. 

The Second Annual Educational Conference of Constan- 
tinople Women’s College will be held Wednesday afternoon. 
May 10th, from 2 to 5 p.m. Addresses will be given in 
French and English. The teachers of the city, and all others- 
who are interested in education, are cordially invited to the 
conference. 

We wish to correct an error in last week’s issue. Miss- 
Christine Maclean (Fall River, Mass.) is temporarily assign- 
ed to Miss Cushman's orphanage, Boyadjikeuy. Miss Grisel 
MacLaren is still connected with the Ismid Near, East Relief 
Hospital. 


Printed by H. M ATTEOSI AN 
Bible House. Constantinople 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 19 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. May 13, 1922 

Cari s E. Mills, Editor 


NEW QUARTERS FOR CONSTANTINOPLE 
N. E. R. HEADQUARTERS 

Beginning on Monday, May 15th, the Headquarters Of- 
fices of the Near East Relief will be transferred from No. 18 
Mengene Maidan, near the Ottoman Public Dept, to the new 
premises on the tramway avenue of Ortakeuy, formerly 
known as Petty Officers’ School (Kuchuk Zabit Mektebi), 
east of the burnt Tchiraghan Palace on the Bosphorus. 

The offices, supply base, and garage will be in one cen- 
tre which will result in a great saving both in workers and 
transportation for the Near East Relief. 


TWO AMERICANS NURSE 280 TYPHUS CASES 

During the typhus epidemic this winter and spring at 
Harpoot, a city five hundred miles inland from the Black 
Sea, Dr. Ruth Parmelee of Boston, and Mrs. Walter Curt 
(Miss Elizabeth Morgan) of Wilkesbarre, Pa., directed the 
Harpoot hospital of the Near East Relief which was contin- 
ually filled with 280 typhus patients. The four other Amer- 
ican members of the Medical Department, Dr. Marks. Ward, 
of Boston, Dr. Cyrus Zimmerman of Schaefferstown, Pa., 
Miss Elizabeth Bury, of Pawtucket, R.I., and Miss Edith 
Wood, of Philadelphia, were themselves seriously ill with 
typhus. 

Aside from carrying the strain of fighting the typhus 
cases of the American personnel, typhus was raging in the 
refugee camps, and the 100 beds of the Harpoot Hospital 
were insufficient to accommodate the typhus patients. "We 
had at times as many as 300 typhus patients,” said Dr. Par- 
melee, "and we had to place them two in a bed or on mat- 
tresses on the floor. Many of the refugees who were in an 
underfed condition died." 

The typhus cases were only one phase of the medical 
work. Dr. Parmelee opened a baby hospital, to take 'care of 
the refugee mothers with tiny babies. In talking about the 
baby hospital, Dr. Parmelee said, “Yes, we had 18 tiny babies 
with their mothers. The mothers worked during the day, 
aiding with housework, sewing, cleaning, etc., leaving three 
of the mothers in charge of the babies. Our orphan boys in 
the carpentry department made 18 tiny cribs, and the child- 
ren were taken out in these beds for a sun bath once a day.” 

"Instead of being bound in swaddling clothes, tied to a 


straight board, and carried about all day on their mothers' 
backs, as is the usual method in Harpoot, our "babies were 
given plenty of fresh air, and allowed to kick and move to 
their hearts’ content. They were fed regularly on American 
evaporated miik instead of anything from a cucumber to a 
piece of native cheese, and the result was healthy, bright, 
happy children." 

"During the rest hour when all the babies had a nap, the 
row of sleeping children was a constant wonder and surprise 
to Harpoot mothers who do not train their babies to eat or 
sleep by any special schedule. We made it a point to allow 
the children to lie on their sides instead of being placed con- 
tinually flat on their backs as is the usual Harpoot method. 
I think the baby home did much to teach many mothers the 
modern methods of caring for children." 

In addition to the hospital, the baby home, and the med- 
ical work in the refugee camps, Dr. Parmelee was the physi- 
cian in charge of the 5,000 Harpoot orphans who are being 
supported by the Near Kast Relief. It was a trying time, and 
both Dr. Parmelee and Miss Morgan were relieved from a 
great strain when the Americans with typhus were finally 
out of danger. 

Dr. Mark S. Ward and Dr, Ruth Parmelee are returning 
to America shortly, but Dr. Cyrus Zimmerman, Miss Eliza- 
beth Bury, and Miss Edith Wood are again carrying on the 
medical work at Harpoot. 


PROGRAM FOR DECORATION DAY j 

On Decoration Day, May 30th, the following exercises 
will be held in the American 'Section of the Cemetery, at 
Ferikeuy, Constantinople. 

A procession will form promptly at 11 o’clock at the 
gate of the cemetery and march to the American Section, 
preceded by the hand of the U. S. S. "Scorpion," playing 
Playel's Hymn. Admiral Mark L. Bristol, American High 
Commissioner will give a short talk on "The Purpose of De- 
coration Day.” 

The graves will be decorated by a Committee of the 
Americah Women’s Club, the band playing appropriate 
hymns. This will be followed by a prayer by the Rev. 
C. T. Riggs and an address by Dr. E. B. Watson. 

The Junior Red Cross of Constantinople will sing 
‘America the Beautiful,” which will be followed by the Bene- 
diction. The band will play for the recessional. 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


Flowers are being donated by Constantinople Post No. 1 
of the American Legion and various other American organiza- 
tions in Canstantinople. 

In addition to the graves in the Ferikeuy Cemetery, 
there is an American grave in the Greek cemetry at San Stefa, 
no, another near the house of Mr. Walter Seager in Bebek, 
and four in the British Cemetery in Haidar Pasha. These 
graves will be suitably decorated concurrently with those 
at Ferikeuy. 


NEAR EAST RELIEF GRAVES IN TURKEY, 
SYRIA, ARMENIA 

The Rev. Richard Stanley Emrich, of Boston, Mass., who 
died in Aleppo, Syria, in 1919. 

Miss Edith M. Winchester of Philadelphia, who died in 
Erivan in 1919. 

Mr. Paul Peltier, of New York City, who died in Eski- 
chehir in 1919, (Mr. Peltier was buried in New York City). 

Captain Jay H. Robinson, of San Francisco, Cal., who 
died in Constantinople in 1920, 

Miss Jessie Wallace, of Berkeley Cal., who died in Mar- 
din in 1920. 

Miss Mary A. Graffam, of Oberlin, Ohio., who died in 
Sivas in 1921, 

Master Wallace Emrich, of Framingham, Mass., son of 
Mrs. R. S. Emrich of the Near East Relief, who died in Con- 
stantinople in 1921. 

Mrs. W. W. Peet, of the American Mission Board, who 
died in Constantinople in 1921, 

Mr. Stoltzfuss, who died in the Syrian Area in 1921. 

Miss Annie Allen, of Boston, Mass., who died in Sivas 
in 1922. 

Mrs. W. W. Peet, Captain Jay Robinson, and Master 
Wallace Emrich are buried in the Ferikeuy Cemetery, Con- 
stantinople. 


IN ANCIENT DIARBEKIR 

In the ancient black-walled citv of Diarbekir, situated on 
a plain at the edge of the Tigris River, Miss Emily I. Wade, 
and Dr. Abbey Noyes Little, of Boston, have carried on the 
work of the Near East Relief for nearly three years. For 
many months, during Dr. Little's absence in Constantinople 
and Mardin, Mfss Wade handled the work alone. 

There are today 1000 refugees and 200 orphans of vari- 
ous nationalities in Diarbekir. It is reported that permission 
has been granted to move the orphans to Beirut, but Miss 
Wade will continue to carry on the work of general relief. 
She has gained the confidence of all nationalities, and it is at 
their urgent request that she is remaining. 

Diarbekir is the meeting place of the Arab, the Turk, the 


Kurd, the Armenian, the Syrian, and the Chaldean. It is a 
common event for Miss Wade to see a band of Arabs, gallop- 
ing across the plain to the city on beautiful horses, inlaid 
daggers flashing in their belts, wearing the flowing “abba” 
for a gown, and the characteristic “kaffirs” on their heads. 
The rich Arabs wear "kaffirs” of whiie silk tied with ropes of 
goat hair. Here, Kurds, dressed in white homespun, elabo- 
rately embroideried in purple and yellow, their long flowing 
sleeves tied across their shoulders, come to sell yohourt, 
cheese, eggs and butter. Their headdress is a high white felt 
hat, bulging at the top. The Chaldeans are an old Assyrian 
race, and one of the oldest Christian peoples. They have a very 
good orphanage and take good care of their children. 

Only six weeks ago, Miss Wade and Dr. Little were no- 
tified that a caravan was arriving. They expected the usual 
long train of camels with tinkling bells, piled high with sup- 
plies, but were delighted to find a caravan of Americans on 
horseback who had been travelling from Harpoot.-Dr. Ruth 
Parmelee, Miss Rebecca Parker, Miss Isabelle Harley, Miss 
Elizabeth Morgan (Mrs. Walter Curt), Dr. Mark L. Ward, and 
Mr. George L. Garside. One must live far in the interior to 
imagine the excitement and delight which these Near East 
Relief workers created as they entered the ancient city gate 
through the black stone walls of Diarbekir. 

When Dr. Little and Miss Wade first went to Diarbekir 
in the winter of 1920, they found refugees from the north - 
Bitlis, Marash, Erzroum. Van, Sivas, and even as far away as 
Trebizond. These pfeople were in a desperate condition. 
MissWade hurriedly sent in a requisition for clothes, clothes, 
clnthes — in fact anything for a covering. The people were 
wretched and naked, some having only a shirt -shoes and 
stockings were not to be seen. On the last train to run that 
year on the Berlin-Bagdad railway, the ciothes arrived from 
the Near East Relief Headquarters. It was another instance 
where American old cloihes arrived just in time and saved 
the situation. Children and grown people came through 
the snow in their bare feet for American old clothes. Since 
that time indurstrial work has been opened, the orphanages 
have been placed on a systematic basis, repatriation of some 
of the refugees has been undertaken, and it is not surprising 
that when Miss Wade and Dr. Little think of leaving, the in- 
habitants and refugees alike, of all nationalities, plead for 
the Americans to remain. 


DAY NURSERY, ORTAKEUY, CONSTANTINOPLE 

A day nursery has been opened at Ortakeuy by Mr. 
George Dennis and Mrs. Melville Chater for the General 
Relief Department of the Near East Relief. A room in the 
Armenian school has been secured rent free, and children of 
all nationalities are cared for during the day whille their 
mothers go to their work. One hot meal and two meals of 
bread and milk are served to the children daily. 

The Day Nursery has recently been turned over to the 
Case Committee under the charge of Mrs. R. S. Emrich. 









■ 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


AT KERASSOUND ON THE BLACK SEA 


composer, Mme. Ariandna Roumanova, to aid her in continu 
ing her studies. 



(An appeal from the Greek Patriarch) 

Kerassaund, a little town on the Black Sea, the port for 
many interior towns and villages, had formerly a population 
of 20,000, 8,500 of whom were Greeks. Thanks to a consid- 
erable exportation of materials, the people were once well to 
<lo. But the little city of Kerassound has not escaped the ef- 
fects of war. The residents have undergone many sufferings 
and hardships, and it has been necessary to open an orpha- 
nage to care for homeless children. The Greek people of the 
town have for some time supported the orphanage, but events 
have happened which have made it almost impossible to ob- 
tain food to live. 

Over one year ago, 90 of the orphans, suffering from 
very serious eye trouble, were sent to Constantinople, and 
many of the other children were distributed among the fami- 
lies who still had a little money. By this means the number 
of orphans was reduced to 25, but now the maintenance of 
the few is almost impossible, and the care rendered them is 
less than sufficient. With difficulty we are able to give these 
children corn bread which we obtain from families who are 
almost equally needy. The children sleep three and four on 
the floor on one mattress, and yet we have not the materials 
to better this condition. 

There is no possibility in Kerassound of earning one's 
bread, and the population grows less and less each day through 
sickness. Piece by piece, the people are selling their house- 
hold belongings, and it is growing more difficult to help our 
■children in ihe orphanage. Children live in the streets and 
beg to be taken into the orphanage but we cannot take them 
because there is nothing for them. We send them away with 
a helplessness which makes our hearts ache. I therefore en- 
treat the Near East Relief to do what is possible to help until 
a general improvement of the situation occurs. 

The Greek Patriarch of Kerassound- 


3134 widows and children are being supported through 
the work of the Constantinople Industrial Department of the 
Near East Relief which is in charge of Miss Constance Shelt- 
man, of Louisville, Ky., assisted by Miss Katherine Paddock, 
of Kankakee, Illinois. 

The five Armenian Catholic orphanages In Constanti- 
nople are efficiently managed by the Armenian Sisters and 
Fathers. The Near East Relief duplicates the donations raised 
monthly by the Armenian Catholics in the city. In addition 
to this, the Near East Relief helps out with supplies from time 
to time. 

The “little mother” system at the Ortakeuy Jewish or- 
phanage, Constantinople, is one of the best features of the in- 
stitution. Each older girl has charge of a family of three 
younger children and is responsible for their cleanliness, 
mending, and table manners. 

Miss M. Davenport, of Constantinople College, is work- 
ing part time with the Orphanage Department of the Near 
East Relief, introducing recreational work in the girls’ or- 
phanages. 

In addition to the 48 boys which the Near East Relief 
has placed in the Engineering Department at Robert College, 
ten especially bright boys of four nationalities are being 
trained for orphanage teachers at Robert College. 

During the past month, the General Relief Department 
has requisitioned fourteen Singer sewing machines. These 
machines are being sold on the installment plan to women 
supporting their families by sewing. This scheme has been 
the means of making many refugee families independent. 


GREEK WORK AT SALONICA 


Mr. James Crutcher, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the Direc- 
tor of the Near East Relief, at Trebizond, has made an in- 
vestigation and finds conditions as described by the Greek 
Patriarch. A donation from the Trebizond supplies has 
been made, including blankets, milk, skin shoes, unbleached 
muslin, dress material, flour, candles, etc. 


CONSTANTINOPLE NOTES 


Miss Esther Sutton, of Chappaqua, N. Y., who has just 
returned from Salonica, states that the city is filled with ref- 
ugees— both Greek and Russian. The Greek Government is 
doing its utmost to meet the situation by allotting land for 
the refugees to work and supplying a small sum of money 
for the building of huts. The building money is given on 
the installment plan, the first allotment being made for the 
foundation. When the foundation is finished, a similar 
amount can be procured for the beams and walls, and finally 
the material for roofing is donated. In this way, the Com- 
mittee is assured that the money is used for the purpose in- 
tended. 


The Turkish orphans of Constantinople will today meet 
His Imperial Majesty, Mehmed VI, Sultan of Turkey, as he 
goes to the old Palace at Seraglio Point to venerate the re- 
lics of Mohammed. 

A musical will be given by Mme. Ariandna Roumanova, 
Pianist, Mme. N. Kondratieff, Baritone, and L. Bolotine, Vio- 
linist, at the home of Mrs. R. S. Emrich, at Roumeli Hissar, 
today at 4:30 o’clock. The proceeds will be given to the gifted 


IN THE AMERICAN HOSPITAL 

Mr. B. F. Plimpton and Mr. J. W. Van Wert, who are ill 
in the American Hospital, Constantinople, are reported to 
be much better this week. 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

The S.S. "Megalli Hellas” arrived May 13th from New 

York with the following new personnel : 

Srode, Josephine (Chicago, 111.) Social Service Worker; 
University of California, and University of Chicago, 
Ph.B. 1921; Chicago Training School of Social Work, 
Class 1913 ; Assistant Head Resident, Gade Hill 
Settlement, Chicago, 4 years; Assistant Head Worker, 
Chicago Settlement, at time of entering Near East 
Relief. Assigned to Caucasus Area. 

Strode, Pauline (Chicago, 111.) Social Service Worker; Uni- 
versity of Chicago, Ph. B. 1921 ; Chicago School of 
Civics and Philanthropy, 1916; Gade Hill Centre 
and Neighborhood Guild, Chicago, 2 years. Assign- 
ed to Caucasus Area. 

Francis, Dorothy (Westfield, N. J.) Social Service Worker ; 
Institute of Musical Art, New York City ; Parish 
Worker and Organist, St. Johnls P. E. Church, 
Clifton, Staten Island, 3 years ; Canteen work with 
' Y.M.C.A. in France and Germany, 2 years. Assign- 
ed to Caucasus Area. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Mr. H. C. Jaquith, Managing Director of the Anatolia 
Area of the Near East Relief, sailed May 9th for Samsoun on 
his way to Angora. 

Captain E. A. Yarrow (Binghamton, N.Y.) Director Gen- 
eral of the Caucasus Area of the Near East Relief, Mr. J. R. 
Phelp (Louisville, Ky.) Manager of Railroad Transportation, 
Caucasus Area, Miss Grace Blackwell (Trenton, N. J.) of the 
Medical Department, Alexandropol, and Mr. F. D. Yowell 
(Washington, D. C.) sailed for the Caucasus Area, Sunday, 
May 7th. - 

Mr. Frank S. Young, of the Philadelphia offices of the 
Near East Relief, is leaving by the Orient Express for Paris, 
May 14th. Mr. Young came to the Near East in charge of 
the S. S. ''Allaguash”, the food ship sent from Pennsylvania 
to Armenia. Mr. Young hopes to reach Philadelphia in time 
to meet the "Allaguash” on her return trip. 

Miss Katherine Gillespie (New Rochelle, N. Y.) has been 
assigned to Angora to assist Miss Florence Billings who is 
representing the Near East Relief there. Miss Gillespie sailed 
May 9th for Samsoun. 

Miss Emily Petty (Berwick, Pa.) and Mr. Paul C. Betts 
(Towanda, Pa.) have been assigned to the Harpoot Unit. Miss 
Emily Petty, who is a graduate of Mt. Sinai Hospital, New 
York City, will be connected with the Medical Department, 
and Mr. Betts will aid with the work of the Finance Depart- 
ment. Mr. George L. Garside (Passaic, N. J.) who has spent 
over a year with the Harpoot Unit, is returning with Miss 


Petty and Mr. Betts. The party sailed May 9th for Samsoun 
where they will c.ontiuue their trip inland for 500 miles by 
yayli (the interior covered wagon). 

Miss Gertrude Anthony ( Berkeley, Cal.), Miss Fanny 
Noyes (Oberlin, Ohio) and Miss Charlotte R. Willard (Chica- 
go, 111.) sailed May 9th. for Samsoun on their way to theMar- 
sovan Unit of the Near East Relief. 

Mr. and Mrs. Melville Chater (Englewood, N. J.) sailed 
Monday, May 8th, for Italy. Mr. and Mrs. Chater have plan- 
ned an extensive tour through Europe before returning to 
the United States. 

Miss Anna Daniels (Allston, Mass.) who has been con- 
nected with the Orphanage Department of the Near East Re- 
lief in Trebizond for nearly three years, arrived in Constan- 
tinople, May 8th. Miss Daniels is returning shortly to the 
United Statess via China. 

Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons, of Princeton, N.J., the well 
known American writer, is visiting Constantinople. Dr. Gib- 
bons expects to sail shortly for the Caucasus Area where he 
will visit the various stations of the Near East Relief. 

Miss Edith Grieve, niece of Dr. and Mrs/Wilfrid Post of 
Robert College, is assisting Mrs: R. S. Emrich in the Case De- 
partment of the Near East Relief. 

Miss M. L. Caldwell (Bristol, Tenn.) is temporarily taking 
charge of the Ortakeuy Day Nursery work, Constantinople. 

Miss Isabel Norkewicz (Shenandoah, Pa.) who has been 
connected with the medical work of the Near East Relief in 
the Caucasus and Anatolia Areas for two years, is sailing 
shortly for the United States. 

A letter has been received from Mr. and Mrs. Robert 
Darbishire of Beech Point, Shelby City, Ky. Mrs. Darbishire 
(Miss Ruth Whiting) was a member of the Weltesley Unit 
which came to Turkey with the Leviathan party in March, 
1919. Mr. Darbishire was for one year Director of the Brous- 
sa Unit. Their daughter, Elizabeth, is now over one year 
of age. 

Miss Jeanne Vancover has been appointed to the District 
of Kazachi Post, Caucasus Area. 

Mr. William E. Cook (Independence, Iowa) has been ap- 
pointed to the District of Karaklis, Caucasus Area. 

Mr. Charles R. Clark (Dundee, N.Y.) has been appointed 
to the District of Kazachi Post, Alexandropol, Caucasus Area. 

Mrs. Charles R. Clark (Dundee, N.Y.) has been appointed 
to the Regulating Stattion, Alexandropol, Caucasus Area. 

Dr. and Mrs. John H. Evans (Norwich, Conn.) have been 
assigned to Erivan, Caucasus Area. 

Miss Martha D. Denniston (Chicago 111.) has been as- 
signed to Djalal Oghli, Caucasus Area. 

Miss M. Davenport, of Constantinople College, is work- 
ing part time with the Orphanage Department of the Near 
East Relief. 


Printed by H. M ATTEOSI AN 
Bible House, Constantinople 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Voi. IV. No. 20 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. May 20, 1922 

Caris E. Mills, Editor 


AMERICAN SEED-GRAIN SPROUTING 

Professor Leonard Hartill, Agricultural Director of the 
Near East Relief in Armenia, reports by wire that 91 percent 
of the American seed-grain sown in Armenia has sprouted 
and promises a record crop. 

Tlie American seeds introduced into Armenia this year 
include wheat, barley, and thirty varieties of vegetables. 
Professor Hartill is from the New York State Department 
of Agriculture and is spending two years in Near East Relief 
work in Armenia with a view to applying American Agricul- 
tural methods to farming conditions there. 


steps towards meeting the need. The largest medical centre 
in the Near East was opened April 20th at Alexandropol 
under her direction. Three large hospitals, with a complete 
medical and surgical staff of native doctors, under American 
supervision, will care for the health of the twenty thousand 
children in the orphanages of this one distirict, as well as 
the children who are coming to the town from the villages 
in search of food. These hungry children arrive in such a 
weak condition that they lie listlessly about the streets until 
they are carried to the hospitals. 


N. E. R. FOOD SHIPS SAIL FOR FAMINE AREA 


DR. MABEL ELLIOTT WRITES FROM ERIVAN 

(The following are extracts of a letter from Dr. 
Mabel Elliott, of Lake Worth, Florida, who is in charge 
of the medical work of the American Women's Hospitals 
in connection with the Near East Relief.) 

"On my way to the office this morning, I passed groups 
of the town children of Erivan. Their poor thin emaciated 
bodies could be seen through their ragged converings. 1 heir 
faces were pinched and old looking from lack of nourishment 
and proper care. I had just left one of the Near East Relief 
orphanages where the children were eating a wholesome 
breakfast. We have 5000 orphans in the orphanages of Eri- 
van, and I often wonder what would happen to these child- 
ren if we were not here. 

"Some days, when our troubles seem too much for us, _ 
we eight American relief workers of Erivan, get together and 
swap miseries. At such times we are apt to say to each 
other, ‘Why on earth do we stay here ? Let's go home ! ’ 
Presently we all calm down, and the orphanage department 
head says to the medical department head, 'Can you imagine 
my 5000 children a year from now if we pulled out?' And 
the head of the medical department replies ‘I saw a room set 
aside for the sick in a refugee camp today, and when I con- 
sider the wretched beings I saw there, lacking nourishment 
and medicines, I returned to our overfilled but clean and 
orderly hospital, feeling as though I were the head of St. 
Luke’s in Chicago or the Presbyterian Hospital in New York. 

"We can not talk of pulling out. We must talk of meet- 
ing the need of the wretched children in the streets and the 
suffering in camps like the one I saw today.” 

Since writing the above letter, Dr. Elliott has taken great 


On Thursday, May 1 8th, the S. S. "Deep Water” sailed 
from Constantinople for Batoum, carrying 5000 tons corn 
grits, cereals and medical supplies for the work of the Near 
East Relief in the Caucasus famine area. 

The S. S. "Leisemearsk”, a" ship chartered by the Near 
East Relief in New York, loaded with 4000 tons corn grits, 
cereals, beds, medical supplies, etc., sailed Saturday night fiom 
Constantinople for Batoum, and the S.S. "Cceur d'Alene” 
is now in Constantinople harbor with 1000 tons supplies. 
The "Cceur d'Alene" will sail Monday evening for the Cau- 
casus. 

I 

THE SMALLEST STOCKING FACTORY 
IN THE WORLD 

Constantinople , May 17. The smallest stocking factory 
in the world, but the largest in Constantinople, is being op- 
erated by the Armenian girl orphans of the Arnaoutkeuy In- 
dustrial Orphanage. 50 pairs of stockings are turned out 
daily, and the girls are supplying stockings for more than 
9000 Armenian orphan children in the city. The factory 
consists of one room and a few machines, but the girls have 
become so expert that the result is a great saving to the or- 
phanages in the purchase of stockings. 

A pair of socks are to be presented by the girls to Mr. 
Gustav Oberlaender, of the Berkshire Knitting Mills, Read- 
ing, Pa., who is President and owner of one of the largest 
stocking factories in America. Mr. and Mrs. Oberlaender 
came to Constantinople during March on the S. S. "Caronia,'' 
one of the large tourist ships. While in Constantinople, 
they visited the Industrial Orphanage and other phases of the 
work of the Near East Relief. 



^ 



2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


EFFORTS TO RAISE ORPHANAGE FUNDS 

The plan of having two representatives from the Near 
East Relief meet regularly once a week with (he Armenian 
Central Committee, Constantinople, a move inaugurated in 
January, is resulting in an increased cooperation between the 
two organizations which is gratifying. Changes in orphan- 
age policy, regarding the welfare of the children, are more 
easily effected. The Armenian Central Committee is doing 
its utmost to raise money for the orphanages, not only among 
the Armenians in Constantinople but also in Bulgaria and 
Roumania. 


L. R. OGDEN TELLS ABOUT HIS WORK 
WITH BOYS 

Mr. L. Ray Ogden, of Oakland, Cal., Superintendent of 
Boys’ Work at the large Near East Relief orphanages at Alex- 
andropol, Armenia, in writing to a Boys’ Club in California, 
makes the following statements concerning the work. 

•‘You fellows can recall how, during our hiking trips 
into the Sierras, we made one small hatchet serve for cutting 
firewood, building a raft, opening milk cans and cleaning 
fish. But never have I realized so well that ‘necessity is the 
mother of invention,' until I started work with the thousands 
of boy orphans up here in this land of devasted homes and 
parentless children. You never hear our children say, ‘Let's 
run over to the store and get a box of marshmallow wafers.' 
Instead, the boys with whom I have been hiking this year 
will cut down a common thistle, strip off the husk and de- 
vour the interior as a delicacy. 

"It is interesting, too, to. watch these orphan boys work 
with a piece of tin. Sometimes, walking across the orphan- 
age grounds, I see a group of little lads engaged in some 
task with a bit of tin, an old nail and rock. They are cutting 
out the shape of a cathedral, with arches, dome, spires, and 
all. With the aid of a discarded file, they will make a 
knife-blade from some old bit of tin, inserting this blade 
into a home-made handle. With this knife, they will attempt 
more pretentious articles. One of them, having saved np a 
sufficiency of American condensed milk cans, made a small 
engine and train of cars four feet long. Every stove in the 
Near East Relief ophanages here is made by the boys from 
the tin roofs of destroyed buildings. From this same ci i s- 
carded material they make shovels, dustpans, water-pails, 
small bathtubs, kerosene carriers— in fact sufficient utensils 
to furnish this orphanage of 6000 boys. 

"I wish you could see some of the little houses they 
have built for themselves when I would have said there was 
not a single bit of building material available. The houses 
are made of mud, coated with whitewash and comprise a 
single room. Doors made from tin or bits of board, and 
windows made from broken panes of glass are set in the 
walls. Inside you find a chair or two, a tiny stove, flower- 


pots containing plants, and a vessel for boiling tea — all made 
by the boys. On little shelves are displayed a variety of tin 
ornaments, patterned after Persian pitchers, Turkish water- 
pots, and Kourdish tea-kettles. The boys try to make for 
themselves the home they have never known. 

“In these houses, the boys delight to cook their own 
beet-tops, various sorts of edible weeds which they have 
learned to know, and their garden-produce. Their gardens 
will give them this summer a good chance to test their skill 
as cooks. Generally there is a puppy which has his shack 
outside the house, or a kitten which is curled up inside. You 
would smile, I think, to see the proprietor and his guests 
busily engaged with knitting needles made of pieces of wiie, 
consiructing knapsacks and even making themselves ear-flaps 
and stockings for the cold winter of the Caucasus. 

"How I shall smile at the American boy who hereafter 
tells me that things cannot be done because there are no 
tools or materials ! However, I’m not saying that the Near 
East Relief orphanages cannot use files, hammers, saws, awls 
and pliers in plenty ; for ours boys are making the orphanage 
furniture, and some of them even make their clothes. Thou- 
sands more of them must be taught to do these things — not 
only to help themselves now, but to have a profession when 
they become men.” 


MUSIC ALE AT HOME OF MRS. EMRICH 

Rarely in Constantinople has a musicale given such com- 
plete pleasure to music-lovers as that given at the home of 
Mrs. R. S. Emirich, of the Near East Relief, last Saturday, by 
Mme. Ariadna Roumanova, composer-pianist, her brother, 
Leonide Bolotine, violinist, and Mme. N. Kondratieff, bar- 
itone. 

Mme. Roumanova and M. Bolotine are children of the 
■ late Admiral Bolotine of the Russian Navy, who died dur- 
ing the Black Sea exodus.. Undet the Kerensky Government, 
Mme. Romanova accompanied her husband to Tokio where 
he headed the Russian Mission. After the collapse of Ker- 
ensky they went to California. Last autumn Mme. Rouma- 
nova came to Constantinople to help her mother, brother 
and sister. 

Mme. Roumanova, now but 20 years of age, has com- 
posed a large number of songs and a variety of piano works 
which are receiving enthusiastic praise. 


CONTAGIOUS DISEASES IN SAMSOUN 

Miss Edna F. Steiger, of Williamsport, Pa., who is in 
charge of the Near East Relief medical work in Samsoun, re- 
ports a large number of cases of smallpox, scarlet fever, 
typhus, and mumps in the city. These diseases are spread- 
ing rapidly among the children and the Near East Relief hos- 
pital has hot sufficient beds or bedding adequately to care for 
the patiants begging admittance. It has been necessary to 
place as many as four or five children in one bed with the 









— 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


3 


result that it is almost impossible to check contagion. The 
orphanages are crowded, and it is becoming very difficult 
both for Miss Steiger and the native nurses to keep disease 
from spreading. 

Mr. Augustus Green, of Chicago, 111., the Director of 
the Samsoun Unit of the Near East Relief, is planning to 
turn the Near East Relief office building into a hospital, 
renting a smaller building for office purposes. 


REGARDING INCOME TAX 

Mr. G. Bie Ravndal, American Consul General, has 
forwarded to the Near East Relief, the following instructions 
concerning extension of time allowed certain organizations 
and Americans living abroad for filing income tax returns 
for 1921 and subsequent years: 

"An extension of time for filing returns of- income 
for 1921 and subsequent years for paying the tax is here- 
by granted up to and including the fifteenth day of the 
sixth month following the dose of the taxable year in 
the case of American citizens residing or travelling 
abroad, including persons in military or naval service 
on duty outside United States. 

"The installments of tax which are actually due 
must be paid at the time of filing the return, and the 
other installments shall be paid as they fall due. In all 
such cases an affidavit must be attached to the return, 
stating the cause of the delay in filing. Taxpayers 
who take advantage of this extension will be charged with 
interest at the rate of one-half per cent a month on the 
first installment of tax from the original due date there- 
of. 

D. H. Blair 

Commissioner of Internal Revenue 

“U-FIFT Y -TWO” 

Miss Blanche Scribner, of Lansing, Michigan, who is the 
accountant of the near East Relief in Erivan, tells in a recent 
letter how quickly the children pick up phrases in English. 

‘‘One certainly hears and sees strange things over here. 
Suppose, for instance, a ragged child walked up to you in 
the street, and said imploringly, ‘U-fifty-two !’ That was 
what happened to me in the streets of Erivan a few days ago. 
She kept on repeating the phrase and I did not know whether 
she referred to a boat or an aeroplane, Finally I secured an 
interpreter, who explained, 'She tells that she has heard the 
Near East Relief warehouseman say it, and that it means old 
clothes.' Then I understood. ‘U-52’ is the Near East Relief 
stock-sheet number which is printed on all bales of second- 
hand clothes shipped from America. 

“I took the child to our warehouse and gave her a skirt 
which came from New York, a jacket from San Francisco, and 
a pair of sockings from Boston. I told her through our in- 
terpreter that she now represented three of our big States, 
and though she didn't get the joke, she smiled so beautifully 


at the prospect of being clothed that I wished that the Amer- 
ican donors of the humble articles might have seen her. 

"But 'U-52' did not end there. The multitudes of ragged 
men and women, who live in battered box-cars at the station, 
had seen the American bales come in, and they too caught 
the password. Next morning the Near East Relief warehouse 
was beseiged by these walking ragbags, who kept on repeating 
‘U-52 !’ ‘U-52 !' with every accent of misery and wretched- 
ness. It was a sad moment when the last garment was hand- 
ed out. Those who had received nothing walked wearily 
away. And every day since then, they accost the Near East 
relief workers in the streets, saying ‘U-52 ! U-52 !' in pleading 
tones. 


1000 TOWN CHILDREN IN BREAD LINE 

Erivan, April 25th. Mr. Dudley P. Lewis, of Princeton, 
Mass., Assistant District Commander of the Erivan District 
of the Caucasus Area of the Near East Relief, in describing 
present conditions, makes the following statements : 

"Nearly a thousand town children of Erivan, clad in old 
rags and flour sacks, stand daily in our bread line. These 
are children living in the town whose parents are so poor 
that it has become impossible for them to feed the family. 
We have over 5000 children in the Erivan orphanages, and 
the number is growing. In the surrounding towns, want and 
disease are on every hand. It was bad enough iu the winter, 
and we hoped that conditions would improve with the com- 
ing of spring. There is not the suffering from cold, but the 
warmer weather seems to bring its own brand of disease and 
suffering. These people are in such a run-down condition 
that they succomb to almost every kind of ailment existing. 

“The children in our orphanages are fortunate. They 
receive plain wholesome food, and they attend school daily. 
As the great need here is constructive effort to counteract the 
results of the war, it is obligatory on the part of every Near 
East Relief orphan to attend the Industrial school at the age 
of 14. Counting these schools, our kindergarten, primary 
and hospitals, the attendance is about 4000 daily." 


N O T E S 

The opening of Camp Mark L. Bristol will take place 
this afternoon. The camp is located this year on the Bos- 
phorus at Yenikeuy. 

Frank Bacon, creator of the title role in "Lightnin," gave 
his famous Bill Jones costume to the Near East Relief old 
clothes collection "to help a refugee." 

Hershey, Pa., has contributed 25,000 pounds of cocoa 
for the children of the Near East Relief orphanages: 16,000 
pounds were the contribution of the citizens, and 9,000 
pounds were donated by the Hershey Chocolate Company. 
Cocoa is a new drink for the majority of the children and 
they wait eagerly for a cup of the "sweet milk." 

The monthly luncheon of the American Women's Club 
will be held at Tokatlian’s on Monday, May 29th, at 12:30. 
Plans for the future of the Club will be dicttssed. 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


MONASTERY LIFE IN CESAREA 

Mr. Henry R. Murphy, of Lawrence, Mass., who is Or- 
phanage Director of the 3000 Near East Relief orphans in 
Cesarea, has written the following concerning life in the old 
Armenian Monastery which is now an orphanage. 

"Some months ago, our big orphanage at Cesarea moved 
their population of children out to this old monastery on the 
mountain-side. I live here four days each week and the bal' 
ance of the time I spend in the nearby town of Talas. 

"Monastery-life, as I find it, is fine. You feel very an- 
cient every time you enter the iron-studded doors with great 
crossbars barricading them inside. However with 500 children 
playing and shouting about, it is difficult to imagine the quiet 
dignified monks pacing up and down the long arched corri- 
dors or walking about the courtyards. 

"The monk in charge here is known as ‘Vartabed’. He 
is a fine old man, and I eat one meal a day with him. The 
other two I prepare myself. Except for a refugee who knows 
a little English, my interpreter and myself are the only Eng- 
lish-speaking people here in Evkere. 

"Formerly the monks had fine gardens and a big swim- 
ming-pool. The gardens have been abandoned, but we have 
repaired the swimming-pool — to the great joy of the children 
and the relief workers 'as well. All through the hills on which 
the monastery stands there are innumerable caves and many 
miles of subterranean passages, constructed long ago for safe- 
ty's sake. Entering ; one of these passageways that connect with 
the monastery, one finds great boulders which can be rolled 
in placegblocking the entrance. It is all very medieval. 

“As to the orphanage work, I like it very much. I am 
on the best of terms with the orphanage boys, and whenever 
I return to Talas, after my four days at Evkere, they fairly 

fall over themselves to greet me. We are very proud of our 
large family of more than 3000 children." 


VICKREY HOME, CONSTANTINOPLE 

"Vickrey Home," the working' home for orphans in Con- 
stantinople, is now sheltering 1 12 older boys, who are ap- 
prenticed out to tradesman in the city. Some of the boys 
are shoemakers and carpenters, others are clerking in shops, 
two are dental assistants, one is a goldsmith apprentice, five 
or six are in garages, and others are office boys. 

The boys work all day in various parts of the city but 
meet at supper at the "Vickrey Home” at Koum Kapou. In 
the evening the' boys attend night-classes, lectures, or perhaps 
a cinema given in the building. Each one has a comfortable 
bed in a pleasant dormitory. 

Half of the wages, which are of course very small, are 
used towards their support, 20% is used for street-car fare 
and incidentals, and the remainder is banked. Each boy is 
the proud possesser of his own bankbook. They are a fine, 
manly, self-respecting bunch of boys who are looking for- 
ward to the time when they will take the next step and be- 
come independent citizens. Glee Hastings 

Orphanage Department 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Rydgren, Forest (Hillside, N.J.) Auditor, Perine & Nichols, 
C.P.A., New York City, 2 years. 

Mr. Rydgren arrived in Constantinople, May 20th, on. 
the S.S. “Acropolis.” 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Mr. H. C. Jaquith, Managing Director of the Near East 
Relief for the Anatolia Area, left Angora, May 19th, for the 
Near East Relief center at Harpoot. Mr. Jaquith will also 
visit Near East Relief work at Cesarea,. Konia, Sivas, and 
Marsovan. 

Miss Edith Wood (Philadelphia Pa.) (A. R. C. Nurse) is 
arriving in Constantinople from Samsoun, May 21st. On 
May 5th, Miss Wood left the Harpoot Unit where she has. 
been connected with the Medical Department of the Near 
East Relief. She has just recovered from typhus. 

Mr. Albert MacKenzie (Philadelphia, Pa.) left Harpoot, 
May 2nd, and is returning to Constantinople via Aleppo. 
Mr. MacKenzie has been connected with the Finance Depart- 
ment of the Harpoot Unit of the Near East Relief. 

Miss Mary Ward (Boston, Mass.) is in Constantinople at 
the Scutari Language School. Miss Ward has been assisting 
Mr. R. P. Travis at the large Near East Relief orphanage, 
Jebail, Beirut Area. 

Miss Bessie Murdoch (Chicago, 111.) and Mr. N.J. Knapp 
(Los Angeles, Cal.) left Harpoot, April 15th, and are travell- 
ing via Aleppo. For three years, Miss Murdoch and Mr. 
Knapp have carried on the Near East Relief medical, orphan- 
age and relief work at Arabkir, in the interior of Anatolia. 

Miss Dorothy Francis (Westfield, N. J.), Miss Josephine 
Strode (Chicago, 111.), and Miss Pauline Strode (Chicago, 111.) 
sailed for the Caucasus Area, May 19th, on the S.S. "Adria." 

Miss Margaret MacLellan (Jamaica Plains, Mass.) is sailing 
today, May 20th, for the United States. Miss MacLellan is an 
A. R. C. Nurse who has been connected with the Medical 
Department of the Near East Relief at Harpoot and Rodosto 
in the Anatolia Area. 

Miss Sophie S. Holt (Duluth, Minn.) is sailing for the 
United States today, May 20th, on the S.S. "Megalli Hellas.’’ 
For three years, Miss Holt has been in charge of the Near 
East Relief Orphanage for Girls at Ismid. Her Assistant, 
Miss Markarian, a graduate of Mt. Holyoke College, is return- 
ing with Miss Holt to America. 

Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons, of Princeton, N. J., the 
well known American author, sailed May 19th, on the S. S. 
"Adria” for the Caucasus Area. Dr. Gibbons is planning a 
trip to Baku and Daghistan. He will also visit the various 
units of the Near East Relief in the Caucasus Area. 

Dr. Ruth Parmelee (Boston, Mass.) sailed today, May 
20th, for the United States, on the S.S. "Megalli Hellas”. Dr. 
Parmelee has been connected with the medical work of the 
Near East Relief in Harpoot for 3 years. 


”7 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 21 Rue Mengene Meidan, Old Riza Pasha School, Stamboul, Constantinople. May 27, 1922 

Caris E. Mills, Editor 


MISS CUSHMAN TO RUN CHAIN 
OF ORPHANAGES 

Miss E. Cushman, of West Exeter, N. Y., is to take 
charge of the largest Near East Relief orphanage centre in 
Constantinople. In addition to the orphanages at Boyadjikeuy 
which have been under Miss Cushman’s charge since 1920, 
an estate has been rented at Yenikeuy which will accom- 
modate as many as 800 additional children. Orphans from 
smaller centres will be moved to the buildings at Yenikeuy, 
resulting in a great saving in workers, supplies, rent, etc., 
through concentration. 

The new orphanage property is in two sections, the road 
through Yenikeuy separating the coast house from the stables, 
garage, and terraced gardens. The main building is situated 
in rose gardens which run down to the Bosphorus, making 
an ideal playground and bathing place for the children. This 
estate, which is the former home of Prince Burhan-ed-din, 
the son of Sultan Abdul Hamid, has been rented by the Near 
East Relief for a term of five years with two years' option. 

Miss Cushman, with the aid of native assistants, is to care 
for more than 1000 children. "The orphan girls will do 
much of the housework,” said Miss Cushman, "because I 
believe in teaching them to work and become good house- 
wives. One half of the day will be devoted to studies and 
the other half to industrial work for both boys and girls. 
Already I have 60 boys in the tailor shop, 84 in the shoe 
shop, as well as a number in the carpentry department. 
There is a dressmaking department where the girls are learn- 
ing to sew and a thorough course in domestic science is be- 
ing planned.” 

It is interesting to visit the orphanage and watch the 
children at work. Every child is the proud possessor of a 
native broom and is responsible for the cleanliness of a 
certain section of the floor, the making of one bed, and the 
neatness of one place in the dining room. One cook super- 
intends the preparing of food for this large family. The 
children peel the vegetables, aid in the cooking of the food, 
do the serving, and wash the dishes. Marks are given for 
perfect work and there is great competition to become 100 
per cent perfect and win a prize. 

An ex-officer of Wrangel's Army is giving the children 
a course in athletic training and swimming, with the result 
that they are becoming active, alert, and full of life. The hot 
Turkish bath is the event of the week when the two marble 
rooms are heated and the children enter in groups, throwing 
the hot water over each other in the native way. These hot 


baths, the sea bathing, athletic work, wholesome food, and 
regular life are rapidly removing the effects of underfeeding 
and hardships of the long years of the war. 

550 children have been too small a group to use to 
advantage Miss Cushman’s fine executive ability and long 
experience in orphanage work. The chain of orphanages on 
the Bosphorus will give Miss Cushman an opportunity to 
demonstrate her theory that through concentration the cost 
per child will be much less and the advantages for the 
children greater. Fifteen years in the interior of Turkey in 
relief work have made Miss Cushman an authority on car- 
ing for orphans in this country. 


CORNER STONE FOR VICKREY HOME ANNEX 

A very impressive ceremony took place on Wednesday, 
May 24th, at Koum Kapou, Constantinople, when Miss Glee 
Hastings, of Spencer, Iowa, turned the first sod, Mr, George 
Dennis, of Halowell, Maine, laid the corner stone, and Miss 
Caris E. Mills, of Princeton, N. J., and the architect, Mr. 
Sarafian, placed the first mortar in the building of the Vickrey 
Home Annex. Bishop Sumpat Kazazian, the representative 
of His Holiness, Zaven, the Armenian Patriarch, offered a 
prayer, and the members of the Vickrey Home Committee, 
the Home Director, and the orphans placed earth about the 
stone. 

Vickrey Home, the stepping stone for Armenian boy 
orphans from the orphanage to the outside world, has become 
too small to accommodate the boys who are ready to make 
the leap to independence. The efficient way in which indus- 
trial work^is being taught in the Armenian orphanages is 
rapidly preparing the older boys for outside work. 112 or- 
phans who are now apprenticed to tradesmen in the city are 
living at Vickrey Home, and other orphans are ready to 
enter from the Beyler Bey Industrial School. 

As soon as a boy saves sufficient money from his earnings 
and secures a place for himself in the city, he leaves the Home 
to make room for another boy. Although a number of 
boys are now independent, the vacancies are too few to ac- 
commodate those who have become expert shoemakers, 
carpenters, goldsmiths, and dental assistants. Extra dormi- 
tory and dining room space have become necessities, and 
2500 Turkish liras have been raised through the Orphanage 
Department of the Near East Relief and the Armenian citi- 
zens of the city to build the Vickrey Home Annex. The 
Annex will house 100 additional boys. 

The idea for the Vickrey Home was originated by Mr. 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


Puzant Gueuzubuyukian who is Chairman of the Armenian 
Committee in charge of the institution. The “ big brother 
movement ” is carried cut with great success by the mem- 
bers of this Committee who spend evenings with the boys, 
invite them to their homes for dinner, plan lectures, lessons, 
and feel a real interest in each boy’s future. 

Miss Glee Hastings, the Director of the Orphanage De- 
partment of the Near East Relief in Constantinople, has taken 
a great interest in this work, and Mr. George Dennis, Super- 
intendent of Buildings for the Near East Relief, aided the 
architect, Mr. Sarafian, in drawing up the plans. 

Many regrets were expressed that Mr. Charles Vickrey, 
General Secretary of the Near East Relief, for whom the 
Home is named, could not be present, but the boys sent the 
following message to Mr. Vickrey and the American people: 

" We wish to send not only thanks but oiir heartfelt 
love to- Mr. Vickrey and the people of America who gave us 
a home when we were homeless, who gave us food when we 
were hungry, and industrial training which is about to make 
us independent citizens. We feel that we are among the 
first graduates of a vast home school supported by the kind 
hearts of America for homeless children of the Near East. 
We shall never forget. In return we shall try to help the 
thousands still in the orphanages who will later follow us 
through Vickrey Home to independence.” 


500 MILES BY “YAYLl” FROM HARPOOT 

Miss Edith Wood, of Philadelphia, who has been con- 
nected with the medical work of the Near East Relief in Har- 
poot, arrived in Constantinople, Sunday, May 21st, after riding 
500 miles across the interior of Anatolia in a "yayli”, the 
travelling carriage of the interior. 

The “yayli” is a high-slung spring wagon, somewat like 
the prairie schooner, except that it opens at the sides instead 
of at the rear. When it is properly padded with blankets, 
the passenger jogs along quite confortably, making 30 miles 
a day. At convenient distances are sitnated native inns, or 
khans, made entirely of mud. You have your own bed with 
you, as well as blankets, cooking utensils, and such plain 
food as bread, cheese, and olives. The khan-keeper supplies 
nothing but the mud room in which you sleep, cook and eat. 

The Near East Relief at Harpoot is caring for 5000 or- 
phans, the orphanage compound containing workshops which 
supply the shoes, clothing, bedding, carpentry work, and 
tinsmithing necessary for such a large institution. As to 
clothing, every process from raw material to the finished 
product is produced on the premises -the washing, combing, 
and spinning of wool, (he dyeing and sizing of yarn, the la- 
borious weaving by hand-made loom. The shoe shops turn 
out more than 10,000 pairs of shoes annually. The older 
orphans, under competent instructors, do the entire indus- 
trial work. 

The boys transform empty gasoline tins into works of art. 
When there was a need for additional candlesticks in the per- 
sonnel house last winter, the boys made them from the gas- 


oline tin. The base was filled with sand for weight, and a 
graceful top attached. When lanterns were required to light 
the garden, the gasoline tins again came into use with the 
addition of glass from broken window panes. 

The work of the Harpoot Unit is so extensive that it re- 
quires not only the labor of every boy and girl of working 
age, but also that of 1000 adults whose piecework in the spin- 
ning and knitting departments yields sufficient pay and ra- 
tions to keep them alive. 

Economy is rigid. Food and clothing are cut down to 
the minimum of a child's needs. Only the sick have bed- 
steads. For the rest, mattresses are laid on the floors by 
night and removed by day, so that rooms uiay serve alter- 
nately for sleeping, eating, and as classrooms. By devising 
a new underwear pattern, a few inches of material per gar- 
ment were saved, thus reducing clothing expenses a large 
amount yearly. 


NO NEED OF CLOTHES LINES 

‘‘At last I have found something we do not need in Ar- 
menia and the Caucasus famine area,” says Miss Fanny 
Strowger, of Rochester, N. Y., in a recent letter concerning 
conditions in the region of Alexandropol where she is en- 
gaged in the orphanage work of the Near East Relief. 

“We write about the need for food, the need for seed, 
the need for clothes, the need for every article necessary to 
make a home, until I began to wonder if there could be any- 
thing under the sun we do not need. I have found it! We 
do not need clothes lines. We are well supplied. The poor 
ragged specimens of humanity up here would feel like mil- 
lionaires if every Monday morning they could hang out a 
clothes line to dry clean clothes. They have no clothes to 
hang on the line-in fact they form a clothes line themselves 
which stretches across this vast famine region. 

“Yes, every unit up here has its clothes line. It is made 
up of human ragbags-men, women, little children who wait 
patiently at our warehouse for the bales of old clothes from 
America. 

“An old garment not only gives these poor ragged people 
thrills of delight, but we relief workers take great interest in 
opening the bags and distributing the spring styles of many 
seasons. A dinner coat from Boston goes to a peasant who 
does not know the meaning of a real dinner- but he knows 
the meaning of cold, and he accepts the coat with a grateful 
look. He eats his first meal in his dinner coat at our soup 
kitchen with much more gratitude and joy, I am sure, than 
the former owner ate his sonp at a Boston dinner party. 

“Therefore, if you are hesitating about a new dress or a 
new suit because the one you have is ‘too good to throw 
away,' please remember that your old outfit will be more wel- 
come and will give more joy in Armenia than your new clothes 
can possibly give you. I appeal to you to buy new clothes 
in America so that your old outfits will help shorten our 
clothes line.” 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


3 


DAY NURSERY IN FAMINE VILLAGE 

Alexandropol, May 21. What was literally a day nurs- 
ery, and perhaps the first in Armenia, was started by a group 
of children in one of the little villages of the famine area 
In a dark cellar, the remains of a ruined house, a band Of 
little children were found. A girl of twelve cared fo r 
the smaller children during the day while two boys, aged 
ten and eleven, went out to look for food. The children 
were in a starving condition when discovered by a Near East 
Relief worker who was on a tour of inspection through the 
country villages. The children explained that they had come 
from the mountains in search of food, and were hoping to 
reach a town or city, but one child was ill and they remained 
in the deserted village. They were placed in a Near East 
Relief orphanage. 


MR. HAWKES 

Mr. William Hawkes, of Caldwell, Idaho, who has been 
in charge of Near East Relief orphanage work in Sivas, was 
the inspiration for the following composition in English by 
an Armenian orphan boy. 

"Mr. Hawkes is an American young person. He is long 
and his eyes are blue and his hair is fawn color. 

"It was in winter, and one day Mr. Hawkes went to 
shoot some duck. He fired some shots but he couldn’t lot 
duck. When he came home every one asked for the ducks. 
He said, "I didn't want to hurt the ducks.” That shows he 
is a very kind Mr. 

■ "He was in America when he heard the news about us 
Then he didn’t want to stay in America any more. He began 
to travel and crossed the ocean and came to Turkey to help 
the poor. He knew that in fighting time we were poor and 
hungry. He came to help us. 

He stayed in Sivas. He was taking care of the orphans. 
He did this as nice as he could. He stayed three years in 
Sivas but now his time is finish and he is going to his home- 
Everybody is very sorry. There are many boys and girls who 
will never forget his name because he has been so good to 
us and we thank him. 

(Signed) Pielag Kevorkian, age 10. 


MY AMERICAN COAT 

An American sweater inspired a little Near East Relief 
orphan in Alexandropol to write the following : 

"I live in a big house of little girls in Alexandropol. 
The walls are stone and the floors are stone and once soldiers 
lived here. In winter it is very cold but it does not matter 
because I have an American coat made of wool like a stoc- 
king. It is very warm because it fits very close. 

"It came in a big box of clothes from America, and there 
was a letter in it which said : "I hope you will like this sweat- 
er. I live in Boston. Dorothy.” I like it much and I am 
happy when I wear it. Some days I give it to my friends who 


have no coats. There are 6000 of us in this home which is 
a great many. When I cannot be near the fire because there 
are so many, I love my American coat.” 

The knitted sweaters sent in boxes of old clothes have 
been much appreciated by the children who were fortunate 
enough to receive them. It is impossible to heat the huge 
barracks buildings adequately and the sweaters are a great 
help. We therefore make an appeal for old sweaters. 


RUSSIAN CROSS-STITCH NEEDLEWORK 

Fine linen from Ireland and the best colored D.M.C. thread 
from France are used by the refugee women workers of ten 
nationalities in the Near East Relief Industrial Department in 
.making the beautiful Russian cross-stitch work. 800 refugee 
women are supporting 3200 dependents through this Depar- 
ment. 

The needlework is shipped to America and is for sale at 
the Near East Relief Headquarters, 151 Fifth Ave., New York 
City. Every effort is being made to create a larger market for 
the goods so that Miss Constance Sheltman, ‘of Louisville, 
Ky., and Miss Katherine Paddock, of Kankakee, Illinois, of 
the Constantinople Industrial Department, can give employ- 
*ment to the long line of refugee women who appeal for 
work -not charity. Kill two birds with one stone: secure 
a fine linen luncheon set in New York and help a refugee 
woman in Turkey. 


NO LABOR PROBLEM IN AR3IENIA 

"We have no labor problem in Erivan,” writes Mr. M. 
F. Rust, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, who is superintending 
general relief for the Near East Relief in Erivan, the capital 
of Armenia. 

"Men plead for a chance to join the labor gangs which 
have been put on road work, building projects, garden mak- 
ing, etc. They are paid by the most valuable currency in 
Armenia -food and old clothes. Each refugee who is phys- 
ically able must work in return for food rations at the Near 
East Relief soup kitchen. There are no strikes in the famine 
area for higher wages or shorter hours. Every one is striv- 
ng for sufficient food to keep alive and fight famine condi- 
tions. Recently we sent the following notice broadcast : 

(1) We must all join in fighting famine conditions, 

(2) Every man, woman and child must prepare a garden, 

(3) The first shipment of seed to arrive will be given to 

those who have best prepared the soil, 

(4) Use a sharp stick if you have neither spade nor shovel, 

(5) If you receive a potato to eat, save the eyes and plant 

them, 

(6) Seed planted in well prepared soil will change famine 

coditions to independence when the first crops 
are harvested, 

(7) Production from work can alone rebuild the country. 


— 


— 


” 1 


4 NEAR EAST RELIEF 


NEWS OF N. E R. 

WORKERS IN INTERIOR OF ANATOLIA 

Miss Theda E. Phelps, ef Philadelphia, and Mr. William 
E. Hawkes, of Caldwell, Idaho, who have been working with 
the Near East Relief in the interior of Anatolia for three 
years, arrived in Constantinople, May 26th. Miss Phelps is 
convalescing from an attack of typhus and will spend the 
summer in America. Mr. Hawkes, after three years’ continuous 
service with the Near East Relief, is planning to return to 
America to visit his family. Mr. Hawkes and Miss Phelps 
have given the following items concerning Near East Relief 
workers in the interior : 

Mr. H. C. Jaquith left Angora, May 20th, for Harpoot, 
travelling via Cesarea and Sivas. 

Miss Charlotte R. Willard (Chicago, 111.), Miss Gertrude 
Anthony (Berkeley, Cal.), and Miss Fanny Noyes (Oberlin, 
Ohio) arrived at the Marsovan Unit, May 15th. They wtll 
replace Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Compton ( Boston, Mass. ) and 
Miss Sara Corning (Hanover, N. H.) who are coming out 
for a vacation. 

Mr. Peter N. Prins (Holland, Mich.) and Miss Helen G. 
Churchill (Lynn, Mass.) arrived in Sivas, May 17th. 

Mr. C. C. Thurber (Manchester, N. H.), Director of the 
Sivas Unit of the Near East Relief, has recovered from an 
attack of typhus and is again carrying on the work of the 
large Sivas Unit which is caring for 2805 orphans, a hospital 
of 195 beds, industrial and general relief work. 

Miss Katherine Fletcher (Amherst, Mass.), who has been 
temporarily assisting Miss Billings at Angora, left recently 
for a vacation in Egypt, travelling via Konia. For three 
years Miss Fletcher has been carrying on orphanage work 
at Cesarea where the Near East Relief is caring for 3,322 
orphans. / 


PERSONNEL ASSIGNMENTS 
IN CAUCASUS AREA 

Mr. F. W. Yowell (Washington, D. C.) who recently 
joined the Caucasus Area of the Near East Relief, has been 
assigned to the District of Erivan. 

Mr. Clinton W. Crow (Rye, N. Y.) has been assigned to 
the District of Kazachi Post, Alexandropol. 

Mr. Walter Price Ambrose (Baltimore, Md.) has been ap- 
pointed Assistant to the Director of General Relief, Tiflis. 

Mr. Ernest William MacCaffrey (Cambridge, Mass.) has 
been appointed to the District of Kazachi Post, Alexandropol. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Dr. W. W. Peet, Chairman of the Administrative Board 
of the Near East Relief, left Constantinople, Saturday, May 
20th, to attend a Y.M.C.A. conference in Prague. Dr. Peet 
is returning to Constantinople in two weeks. 


The engagement has been annouced of Miss Katherine 
Paddock, of Kankakee, 111., to Mr. Frank Leslie Hinkle, 
of Washington, D.C. Miss Paddock has been connected 
with the Industrial Department of Constantinople Unit of 
the Near East Relief for more than two years. The wedding 
will take place in Tiflis where Mr. Hinkle is connected with 
foreign trade interests. 

Miss A. H. Chickering, of Worcester, Ma,ss. ( has been 
appointed Cashier of the Constantinople Headquarters, re- 
placing Miss Beatrice Johnston, of New York City, who is to 

be married in June to Captain William Brazier of the British 
Army. 

Miss Edith Wood, of Philadelphia, A.R.C. Nurse, arrived 
May 20th in Constantinople from Samsoun. Miss Wood 
travelled 500 miles by yayli (covered wagon) from Harpoot 
where she has been connected with the Medical Department 

of the Near East Relief. She has just recovered from an attack 
of typhus. 

Miss Isabel Norkewicz, of Shenandoah, Pa., A.R.C. Nurse,, 
sailed May 16th for Constanza. Miss Norkewicz, who has been 
connected with the Caucasus and Anatolia Areas of the Near 
East Relief for more than two years, is planning to visit 
many points in Europe before returning to the United Sates. 

Mr. Forest Rydgren, of Hillside, N.J., who arrived recent- 
ly on the S.S. “Acropolis" from New York, has been assign- 
ed to the Finance Department, Constantinople. 

Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons, of Princeton, N.J., Miss 
Dorothy Francis, of Westfield, N.J., Miss Josephine Strode, 
of Chicago, 111., and Miss Pauline Strode, of Chicago, 111., 

returned to Constantantinople, May 19th, on the S.S. “Adria” 
from Batoum. 

Miss Nancy Benson, of Ware Oak, Va., is leaving May 
24th, for a three months’ leave of absence in the United 
States. Miss Benson has been in charge of the Individual 
Remittance Department of the Near East Relief in Constan- 
tinople for nearly three years. Mr. Rees R. Reger is taking 
charge of the Department during Miss Benson’s absence. • 

Dr. MarkS. Ward, of Suffern, N. Y., left Constantinople 
May 20th via Orient Express for Paris. Dr. Ward has been 
in charge of Medical Department of the Harpoot Unit of the 
Near East Relief for more than two years and is returning to 
the United States for a leave of absence. 

On Saturday, May 20th, Mrs. R. S. Emrich and Miss- 
Constance Sheltman gave a tea at their home in Roumeli 
Hissar, Constantinople, for Miss Katherine Paddock. The 

talented violinist, M. Leonide Bolotine, played a number of 
beautiful selections. 

Dr. and and Mrs.. Fisher, of Robert College, left Con- 
stantinople, Saturday, May 20th, by Orient Express. They 
are returning to the United States for the summer vacation. 

Miss A. H. Chickering, Miss Glee Hastings, and Mr. 
Leon Myers are planning to spend Decoration Day in Rodos- 
to, Thrace, with Mr. and Mrs. Walter Curt. 

Mrs R. S. Emrich, of Allston, Mass., is leaving shortly 
as a delegate' for the Y. W. C. A. Conference in Salsburg. 


Printed by H. M ATTEOSI AN 
Bible House, Constantinople 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 22, 23 Near Cheraghan Palace, Ortakeuy, Constantinople June 3, 10, 1922 

Caris E Mills, Editor 



* t 


Members of the American High Commission. Officers and Men of the U. S. Navy and Americans of 
Constantinople, Decoration Day, after placing flowers on the graves of Americans 

who died in the Near East. 


RECEPTION TO THANK AMERICA 

On Wednesday, May 31st, an unique reception was held 
in the rooms of the Armenian Club, Pera, when the leading 
members of the Armenian Nation met to thank the American 
Nation for their life-saving philanthropy for the orphans and 
needy of the Near East. 

The three great Armenian religious heads, His Beatitude 
Zaven, Patriarch of the Gregorian Armenians, His Beatitude 
Monseigneur Nazlian, Locum Tenens of the Armenian Cath- 


olic Patriarchate, Professor Bezdjian, the head of the Protes- 
tant Community in Turkey and Syria, the Chairman of the 
National Council, with the leading Church Dignitaries, the 
members of the Armenian Club, the Armenian Central Re- 
lief, officials from all Armenian circles in Constantinople, 

and the leading Armenian ladies of the city received the 
guests. 

Mr. V. Essayian gave the speech of welcome in English 
on behalf of the Armenian Club. His Holiness, Zaven, Pat- 
riarch of the Armenian Gregorians, eloquently express- 
ed the heartfelt thanks of the Armenian Nation to the people 



2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


of America, not only for their material assistance but for 
their moral support through the past and present trying years. 

Mr. Ohanian, Chairman of the Armenian Central Com- 
mittee, read an address of gratefulness to those who are 
helping the Armenian Nation and all nations in need in the 
Near East, giving a tribute to the Americans who have died 
in this service. “The Armenian people are well aware,' 
said Mr. Ohanian, “of the boundless sacrifices which the 
people of America have made and are making for us. We 
are eternally thankful for the interest America has taken in 
the physical and moral welfare of our orphan children. The 
help and cooperation of the American people came to us as 
a Providential blessing at a time when the need was so im- 
mense that the Armenian people could not possibly meet it.” 

American Names for Constantinople Orphanages 

Mr. Ohanian, in referring to the Near East Relief, said 
“The work of this great organization is not only feeding and 
clothing the children but is doing constructive work in estab- 
lishing homes and schools where our orphans will receive in- 
struction in industrial work which will lead to future inde- 
pendence. The most recent example is the placing at the dis- 
posal of the Armenian Central Committee, the former Head- 
quarters building of the Near East Relief which will be used 
as an Industrial School as well as a home for three hundred 
of the older orphans. 

“As the Armenian Central Committee gave our first in- 
dustrial home at Koum Kapou, Constantinople, the name of 
Mr. Charles Vickrey, General Secretary of the Near East Re- 
lief, so also as a token of gratitude a resolution was passed 
today to name the new industrial school 'Cleveland Dodge 
Home' for our great benefactor, Mr. Cleveland Dodge of 
New York City, Treasurer of the Near East Relief. We shall 
call the Girls’ Industrial Home at Arnaoutkeuy, 'Barton 
Home' for Dr. James L. Barton, of Boston, Chairman of the 
Executive Committee of the Near East Relief, and the Boys’ 
Industrial Orphanage at Beylerbey, ‘Morgenthau Home’ for 
Mr. Henry Morgenthau, former American Ambassador in 
Constantinople, who is at present on the National Board of 
Trustees of the Near East Relief. These splendid names, 
which symbolize American philanthropy and American sym- 
pathy for the suffering, will embellish the facades of our in- 
stitutions and will remain immortal in the hearts of a grate- 
ful nation whose annals will register them in characters of 
gold.” 

His Beatitude, Monseigneur Nazlian, Locum Tenens of 
the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate, made the closing speech 
stating that the giving and receiving of relief creates a tie 
from heart to heart, and the tie extending from the hearts of 
Armenians to the people of America is named “gratitude.” 
He expressed the hope that the thousands of children in the 
orphanages, the new generation of the nation, would in 
some way be able to repay the aid, the love and sympathy 
which has been sent across the ocean from America. Three 
cheers were then given for the American people. 

Dr. MacCallum, of the Administrative Board of the 
Near East Relief, replied in Armenian, thanking the Armen- 


ian representatives for their kind expressions, stating that 
the American people were glad to be in a position to help, 
and expressing the hope that the future for Armenia would 
be brighter and the economical condion would improve. 

Among the guests present were representatives from the 
Near East Relief, the American Y.M.C.A., Robert College, 
Constantinople College, the American Y.W.C.A, the British. 
Lord Mayor's Fund and the American Mission Board. 


ARMENIAN CATHOLIC ORPHANS LEAD 
EUCHARIST PROCESSION 

On Sunday, June 4th, the Armenian Catholic orphans 
led the first great Eucharist Procession to take place in Coh- 
stantinople since the fifteenth century. The Boy Scouts acted 
as a guard at the head of the procession, and following were 
the little girls in white gowns carrying lillies, the little boys, the 
priests in their gorgeous robes, and the First Communicants.. 
The Sisters and Fathers, who are in charge of the Armenian 
Catholic orphanages, walked with the children. The Ar- 
menian Catholic Patriarch, Monseigneur Nazlian, presided; 
over the long procession of seven thousand Armenians, 
Russians, Georgians, French, Bulgarians, Albanians, Syrians,. 
Greeks, and Italians of the Catholic Faith. 

The procession had been timed to coincide with the 
close of the International Eucharist Congress at Rome on 
the previous Sunday, but was postponed on account of bad 
weather. The Grande Rue was lined with spectators, and 
every window and many a roof had its own little crowd of 
interested watchers who threw flowers and rose petals. The 
procession was an extraordinary evidence of the size of the 
Catholic population in Constantinople. The section of little 
girls from the various orphanages and schools extended from 
Galata Serai to Taxim, and the section of little boys covered 
about the same distance. At 5 p.m., the procession left the 
Church of St. Antoine, and though constantly moving, had 
only passed Taxim two hours later. 

Several French military bands and bands from local 
guilds furnished music. When the bands were silent, children's 
voices could be heard reciting the rosary. At one point 
where the Christian Brothers led their boy scholars, a beard- 
ed priest walked backwards in front of them, beating the 
time with his baton and leading the martial stanzas of a 
French hymn. 

The whole length of Pera was gay with moving banners 
blazoned with a thousand emblems of the Catholic Faith. 
Many of the children carried baskets of flower petals which 
they scattered to make a flowered pathway for the Sacred 
Host. The church bells of Constantinople were ringing while 
the procession was on its way, and all street traffic was stop- 
ped. The Armenian Cemetery at Pangalti was reached about 
six o’clock, where a detachment of Irish Guards of the Brit- 
ish Army awaited the procession. The Lord's prayer was 
sung, and His Beatitude, Monsigneur Nazlian, holding the 
vessel of the Holy Communion, blessed the people. 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 3 


LIEUT. COL. JOHN BIGELOW DODGE WRITES 
ABOUT ARMENIA 

Lieut. Col. John Bigelow Dodge, D.S.O., D.S.C., grandson 
of the famous diplomatist, John Bigelow, an American who 
entered the British Army at the beginning of the war and 
left it a lieutenant- colonel with the D.S.O., writes in the cur- 
rent number of the “World's Work," London, concerning his 
trip throngh Persia and Armenia. 

“Seen from the train that carried me from Tabriz to 
Erivan, the splendid scenery of Armenia contrasted notably 
with the rolling, sparsely tilled countryside to which I had 
been accustomed in North-West Persia. The mountain gran- 
deur, the gorgeous, fantastic forests, the rising torrents -all 
these reminded me time and again of backgrounds to the 
Russian ballets. 

“But if the surroundings were impressive, the condition 
of those who lived among them was both pitiful and de- 
plorable . . . Meanwhile no praise can be too high for the 
really magnificent work that is being done in Armenia by 
workers of the American Near East Relief Commission, who 
in Alexandropol bake five tons of bread each day for local 
distributions and who are supporting thousands of orphans, 
besides keeping alive thousands of the homeless adults who 
roam about amid the ruins of houses in search of scraps of 
food and sheltered lodging.” 


HIKING FROM OURFA TO ALEPPO WITH 
TWO HUNDRED ORPHAN GIRLS 

(Extracts from letter of Mrs. Florence Stanton Kalk, 
of Washington, D.C.) 

Mr. Howard B. MacAfee, Managing Director of the 
Beirut Area of the Near East Relief, has been very successful 
in moving the orphans of the interior stations of the Beirut 
Area to four large concentration points near the Beirut Head- 
quarters. This scheme means a huge saving in personnel 
and overhead expenses. The large Near East Relief orphan- 
age at Ourfa, under the charge of Miss Mary C. Holmes, has 
been recently transferred to one of the concentration points 
in the Lebanons near Beirut. Mrs. ^Florence Stanton Kalk, 
of Washington, D.C., who joined Miss Holmes in the or- 
phanage work at Ourfa last year, has written the following 
concerning the moving of 200 of the children. 

"Early in the morning of April 2nd, Dr. Kunzler and I 
started on our journey from Ourfa to Aleppo with seventeen 
camels, several donkeys, seven wagons laden with tents, beds, 
blankets, and extra luggage, and two hundred children from 
nine to fifteen years of age. We had procured all available 
transportation which was only sufficient to carry baggage 
and supplies. Each child had a knapsack strapped to its 
back, and the hike began. 

“At the edge of the town, we had to stop and the Tur- 
kish officials checked off each child in the party. Then we 


went on up the zigzag moutain road, stopping every thirty 
or thirty-five minutes at the water holes to rest and give the 
children a chance to drink. 1 had a wagon for my use but 
in the party were two girls with heart trouble and one child 
with rheumatism so I put them in my place, adding or tak- 
ing cut others now and then foL a rest. 

“About four we reached Sarymaghra (which means yel- 
low caves) where we prepared to spend the night. Here the 
camel drivers gave us our first hard jolt by absolutely refusing 
to put up the tents. No amount of talking would induce them 
to change their minds in spite of the fact that they had 
agreed to do it when the bargain was made- so we had to 
make the best of it and sleep in the open. The children 
washed their feet which were sore from walking, applied 
liniment, and curled up in blankets. 

“We started off on our second day’s march, and had 
not made very much progress when it started to rain heavily 
and a cold wind began to blow with occasional snow flakes. 
By this time, we were so far from Sarymaghara that we were 
in for a soaking whatever we did. The best thing therefore 
was to keep moving, hoping to find shelter some place. But 
no such luck ! The old mountains were as bare of protec- 
tion as a stone, and we were wet through and through. On 
we plodded, the children soaked to the skin, if we stopped 
a minute, they would begin to shiver and shake with the 
cold. We could not sit down on account of the mud, but 
finally we found an old deep unused cistern which had no 
water in it. Although it seemed half full of mud, we went 

down into it and tried to rest. We were at least sheltered 
from the wind. 

“As the rain continued, I finally decided to go ahead 
with those who were able to travel quickly and leave the rest 
with Dr. Kunzler. You should have seen the children pile 
out of that hole in the ground. Some of them broke into 
a run in their eagerness to reach a dry place. I allowed 
them to go ahead as the run would help to warm them. We 
surely made a queer looking party with the wind blowing 
our wet muddy clothes about us. 

"The walking had been bad on the mountains, but when 
we reached the Seruge plain it was dreadful. The mud 
would stick to our feet until each foot was as large as a 
bushel basket and so heavy that it was an effort to move. 
The children grew tired and began to lag. Poor children, 
they were exhausted but there was simply no place to stop. 
Some of them began to stumble and fall, and they were so 
weak that they just stuck in the mud when they fell, not 
having enough strength to crawl out. I had to drag them 
to their feet and coax and plead to keep them moving. 

“At last we reached Eski Scrug at four o’clock. We went 
direct to the khan and sent wagons back for the children 
with Dr. Kunzler. We gave every child a hot supper, a dose 
of quinine, and put them to bed. The khan gate was locked 
for the night, and excepting for the donkeys, camels, dogs, 
calves, chickens and drivers, we were all alone. 

"Two days of our hike were finished and the old khan 
seemed as palatial in the sea of mud as the Biltimore Hotel, 
New York. ” 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


200 SHEEP FOR ORPHANAGES 

A cable message from the Armenians of Roumania to the 
Armenian Patriarchate, Constantinople, states that 200 sheep 
are on their way for the Armenian orphanages, Constantionple. 
On account of the low rate of exchange, the Armenians of 
Roumania have found it more practical to send supplies 
instead of money. 

N. E. R. NURSES SEND GREETINGS 
TO SEATTLE CONVENTION 

Miss Emma Wood, Chief Nurse of the Near East Relief, 
today sent the following cable to Miss Clara Noyes, Director 
of Nursing Service, American Red Cross : 

• “Fifty American Red Cross Nurses in the service of 
the Near East Relief, between Mount Olympus and Mount 
Ararat, send their greetings and regret their inability to 
attend the Seattle Convention. They wish to assure col- 
leagues that the same high standards of American nurs- 
ing are being upheld in Turkey, Syria and the Caucasus 
as at home.” 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Bower, Thomas H. (Middleburg, Pa.) Civil Engineer; Ohio 
State University, 1916 ; executive experience in 
engineering lines. Mr. Bower arrived in Constanti- 
nople, June 6th. 

The following personnel arrived in Constantinople, June 

9th, on the S.S. “Themistocles” : 

Shedd, Susan Jane (Wayne, Pa.) Orphanage Worker ; Vassar 
College, 1918; B. S. Carnegie Institute Technology, 
Pittsburg, 1922 ; Y.M.C.A. training ; Associated Char- 
ities, Pittsburg ; Presbyterian Hospital, New York, 
2 years ; Director of Girls’ Clubs, Y.W.C.A. Assigned 
for orphanage work, Hamadan, Persia. 

Wood, Miriam (Revere, Mass.) Secretary ; Secretarial work 
' with American Red Cross, France, Germany, and Po- 
land, 1918-20. 

Whelan, Harold Vincent (Wallace, Idaho) Bookkeeper; Univ- 
ersity of Idaho ; Manager Exporting and Importing 
House, Cape Haiti, Haiti ; Executive work, Chamber 
of Commerce, South Bend, Ind. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Dr. W. W. Peet, Chairman of the Administrative Board 
of the Near East Relief, returned to Constantinople, June 7th, 
after attending the Y.M.C.A. Conference in Prague. 

The wedding of Miss Beatrice May Johnston, of the Near 
East Relief, to Captain William Russell Brazier, of the Royal 
Artillery, British Army, will take place, Saturday, June 24th, 


at the British Embassy Chapel. After the wedding ceremony, 
there will be a reception at the American Ambassy. 

Miss Theda E. Phelps (Philadelphia, Pa.), A. R. C. Nurse, 
who has been connected with the Cesarea Unit of the Near 
East Relief for three years, sailed June 8th for the United 
States on the “King Alexander.” 

Miss Bessie Murdoch (Chicago, 111.) and Mr. N.J. Knapp 
(Los Angeles, Cal.) who have been in charge of the Near East 
Relief work at Arabkir, Harpoot District, for three years, ar- 
rived in Constantinople, June 9th on the S.S. "Gastein." They 
left Harpoot, April 15th, travelling via Aleppo and Beirut. 

Mr. William E. Hawkes (Caldwell, Idaho) who has been 
connected with the Sivas Unit of the Near East Relief for 
three years, is leaving Constantinople, Monday, June 12th ( 
via the Orient Express. Mr. Hawkes is returning to the 
United States to visit his family but expects to return to the 
Near East. He is the last member to leave the Near East of 
the famous “Pensacola” party which arrived in Constanti- 
nople in February, 1919, after a stormy voyage with the first 
ship of supplies. 

Mr. Leon Myers (Lancaster, Pa.), one of the members of 
the (Leviathian Party which arrived in Constantinople in 
March, 1919, sailed for the United States, June, 8th on the 
"King Alexander.” Mr. Myers has given three years of con. 
tinuous service to the Near East Relief at the Marsovan, De- 
rindje, and Constantinople Units. 

We regret to report the death ?of Mr. Robert P. Brod- 
head, of Kingston, Pa., father of Miss Mary Brodhead. For 
two years, Miss Brodhead was connected with the Near East 
Relief in the Caucasus and Constantinople areas. 

Dr. and Mrs. George L. Richards (Boston, Mass.,) arrived 
in Constantinople, June 5th. Dr. Richards was formerly 
Director of the medical work of the Near East Relief in the 
Caucasus, Anatolian and Beirut Areas, and since his return 
to America has been Medical Adviser to the New York Head, 
quarters of the Near East Relief. Dr. and Mrs. Richards will 
visit the medical work of the Caucasus Area on their way to 
India via Persia. 

Miss Edith Wood (Philadelphia, Pa.), A.R.C. Nurse, and 
Dr. Tognazzini (California) of the American Women’s Hos- 
pitals, sailed June 6th from Constantinople. They are re- 
turning to America via China. 

Mr. Albert MacKenzie (Philadelphia, Pa.) left recently 
for United States via Beirut. Mr. MacKenzie has been con- 
nected with the Finance Department of the Harpoot Unit. 

Mr. George H. Dennis (Halowell, Maine), Director Of 
the Relief Department of the Constantinople Unit, left May 
31st, for a vacation. Mr. Dennis will visit various points in 
Europe. 

The Rev. Mr. MacAfee and Mrs. MacAfee, of Los An- 
geles, are visiting in Constantinople. The Rev. Mr . MacAfee 
is a brother of Mr. Howard B. MacAfee, Director of the Near 
East Relief in the Beirut Area. 

Miss Josephine and Pauline Str ode (Chicago, 111.), are tern 
porarily aiding in recreational work in the Constantinople 
orphanages. 



0 HI 1 




Vol. IV. No. 24 


Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Near Cheraghan Palace, Ortakeuy, Constantinople 

Caris E. Mills, Editor 


June 17, 1922 


AMERICAN NURSE ONLY DOCTOR 
FOR 12 TOWNS 

Miss Bessie B. Murdoch, an American nurse from Chica- 
go, 111., has been doctor and nurse for the people of 12 towns 
in the district of Arabkir, 500 miles in the interior of Anatolia. 
Miss Murdoch went to Arabkir three years ago as Medical 
Director for the Near East Relief orphanages and refugee 
camps. She found there a district of 12 towns without a 
single doctor. 

For one year, Miss Murdoch treated more than 100 patients 
daily who walked miles to reach the Near East Relief dispen- 
sary. "I set broken legs and arms, sewed up severe cuts and 
wounds, and in fact carried on general surgical work,” said 
Miss Murdoch. “I often longed for a doctor. Each morning 
I wondered what new operation I would be forced to attempt 
When travelling was allowed, we sent very serious cases to 
Dr. Mark L. Ward and Dr. Ruth Parmelee of the Near East. 
Relief hospital in Harpoot. However, there were months 
when travelling was impossible and I had to do my best for 
these poor people. All nationalities came to me, the Kurd j 
the Turk, the Armenian, the Greek. I was called to the homes 
of the rich and poor, travelling through the lonely mountain- 
ous country on horseback." 

Miss Murdoch's dispensary was running about one year 
when a young Turkish doctor was sent to the district. Even 
then, the officials called in Miss Murdoch to consult on 
special cases. Her fame as a doctor had travelled far and 
wide. Native girls were Miss Murdoch's only assistants, and 
they could not read or write. “However,” said Miss Mur- 
doch, “my girl nurses made up in hard work and willingness 
what they lacked in education. They would sit up all night 
with a sick patient and report for duty the same as usual 
the next morning.” 

“Life in Arabkir was so primitive,” continued Miss Mur- 
doch, “that we taught new methods of living daily. There were 
no combs in the little orphanage which we found at Arabkir 
upon our arrival. The children took turns in using the one 
comb owned by a neighbor. There was no wheelbarrow in 
the whole city although the streets ran up the side of the 
mountain. There was nothing flat about Arabkir ! Upon 
leaving a house, one walked either up or down. 1 advise a 
course in mountain climbing as a qualification for future 
Near East Relief personnel who may go there.” 

Miss Murdoch recently returned to Constantinople, 
travelling by way of Aleppo and Beirut. 


“WHITE WINGS” OF KARAKILIS 

Karakilis is rapidly becoming the “Spotless Town” of 
Armenia, accoding to Mr. J. D. McNabb, of Washington, 
D. C., who is Superintendent of Finance and Supplies for 
the Near East Relief. In order to employ the refugee wo- 
men, the Near East Relief workers have founded the "White 
Wing Society.” The women members of this Society are 
responsible for the cleanliness of the streets, the refugee houses 
and the refugee camps. In return for their work, they receive 
rations and clothes from the Near East Relief warehouse. 

It is interesting to see the pride the members of this 
Society are beginning to take in the general appearance 
of the town which is rapidly becoming one of the cleanest 
communities of the Caucasus Area. The “White Wings” 
are developing into the first Womens' Civic Welfare Society 
of Armenia. They are planting trees and gardens and meet- 
ing to talk over plans. 

While the women are literally sweeping the city, the 
men are employed in repairing the water system, sewers, 
public fountains, streets and houses, under the direction of 
the Near East Relief. 


MR. J. HERBERT KNAPP OF ARABKIR 

For three years, Mr. J. Herbert Knapp of Los Angeles, 
Cal., has directed the work of the Near East Relief in Arab- 
kir. Aside from caring for 550 orphans, thousands of refu- 
gees, the poor and needy of 12 villages in the district, Mr. 
Knapp had many duties. 

One of the first tasks undertaken was standardizing 
the time for the city. The officials had been receiving- 
the time by telegraph which was often unsatisfactory on 
account of delays, repairing of wires etc. No one seemed 
quite sure of the exact hour. To remedy this, Mr. Knapp, 
who is a civil engineer, established the meridian and took the 
time by the sun. The sun dial became very popular, and the 
inhabitants of the city, from the highest official to the araba- 
gee (carriage driver), came on sunny days to learn the correct 
hour. When Mr. Knapp reached Aleppo, he found that his 
watch, set according to his Arabkir dial, registered only four 
minutes in difference to the Aleppo time. 

Another difficulty was the lack of maps for teaching 
geography. A correct map of Europe could not be found 
in the, city. Finally a stray number of the Literary Digest 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


solved the difficulty. One of the articles was illustrated by 
a correct map of Europe with the numerous changes result- 
ing from the Great War. From this little map, Mr. Knapp 
drafted large maps which were used by an eager and inter- 
ested crowd of Near East Relief orphans in the geography 
class. 

Before the war, Arabkir boasted a population of 20,000 
but it has dwindled to 7,000. The city is situated on the 
mountain side at an elevation of 4,000 feet above the sea 
level. The streets of the city would better be described as 
stairways. Since the war, the people of the • district are 
very poor. Many returned to their native town to find them- 
selves homeless and penniless. By opening industries and 
other forms of refief, a fine piece of constructive work has 
been accomplished. 


THE CLOSING OF DERINDJE 

Derindje, which has been the Supply Base of the Near 
East Relief since the beginning of 1919, was closed June 13th 
when the S.S. "Odessa” transferred the last shipload of 
supplies to the new warehouse on the Bosphorus, Constan- 
tinople. The Constantinople warehouses are a continuation 
of the Headquarters building, and the concentration of ad- 
ministrative offices, warehouses, and transportation depart- 
ment is already effecting a great saving in personnel and 
overhead expenses. 

The large buildings at Derindje, built by the Germans 
for war purposes, have served not only as a storage place for 
American Near East Relief supplies, but as a temporary home 
both for workers and orphans. When the "Mercurius,” 
the first ship to bring supplies and workers for, the Near East 
Relief, sailed into Constantinople harbor in February, 1919, 
the empty German warehouses on the Gulf of Ismid afforded 
the best space available. The "Mercurius” party, Mr. Walter 
Curt, Mr. E Hadley, Mr. Harry Riggs, and Mr. Tom Linn, 
were the pioneers who opened the unit, built the portable 
huts, and secured native workers. Since that time, Derindje, 
situated at the edge of the sea, has been a rest camp as well 
as a Supply Base. The little compound, with its portable 
huts, "Harmony” and “Paradise”, is very dear to the memory 
of many of the Near East Relief workers. 

In March, 1919, the first large party of American women 
workers for the Near East found a home in the warehouse 
buildings. Two of the floors were converted into dormi- 
tories, and one section was fitted up as a large kitchen and 
dining room. Members of this party were sent out from 
Derindje to all sections of Turkey, the Caucasus, Persia and 
Syria, and a number are still in the field. 

The Supply Base has been the depot for perhaps the 
largest milk route in the world, sending out quantities of 
American evaporated milk to which thousands of children 
in the Near East owe their lives. Hospitals in every large 
relief centre in Turkey and the Cousasus have been outfitted 


from Derindje, and food supplies have sailed from the 
Derindje dock which have saved thousands in the famine 
areas. 

When the orphans could no longer remain at Bardezag, 
a warehouse was quickly turned into an orphanage, and 
the German bomb proof gas house became a school. Last 
year 2000 refugees, fleeing from the war zone, found at De- 
rindje food, clothes and a place to rest. 

Mr. and Mrs. E. F. Martin, of Peshtig, Wis., were the last 
Near East Relief workers at Derindje, and Mr. Martin ef- 
ficiently superintended ths moving of supplies to Constan- 
tinople. 


ISMID ORPHANS MOVED TO CONSTANTINOPLE 

Mr’ W. H. Moffett, of Cincinnati, Ohio, Director of the 
Ismid Unit of the Near East Relief, recently obtained per- 
mission to move the 270 orphan girls of the Ismid orphan- 
age to the new buildings at Yenikeuy, Constantinople, un- 
der the charge of Miss E. Cushman. This arrangement will 
effect a great saving in expenses. 

Mrs. Dorothy Sutton, of Colebrook, Conn., who has 
been temporarily in charge of the Ismid Orphanage, super- 
intended the closing of the compound. The little girls show- 
ed great initiative in helping to pack their belongings 
and close the building which had been their home for three 
years. 

When the S.S. "Odessa” steamed into Ismid harbor, the 
children were ready to go aboard, and Mr. Moffett and Mrs. 
Sutton accompanied them on the trip. In the late afternoon 
of June 13th, as the ship approached the Near East Relief 
landing in Constantinople, the workers were serenaded by 
270 children singing American patriotic songs and waving 
American flags. The "Odessa” then proceeded to Yenikeuy 
where Miss Cushman and her orphan boys were waiting at 
the landing to give them a hearty welcome to their new 
home. 

The efficiency of Mr. H. C. Moffett and Mrs. Dorothy 
Sutton in superintending the moving was accountable for 
the comfort and ease with which it was accomplished. Each 
child’s mattress and possessions were rolled in separate 
bundles, marked with the child's name, and placed on the 
ship in a covenient place. 

The Ismid Girls’ Orphanage of the Near East Relief was 
established in the spring of 1919 under the charge of Miss 
Sophie Holt, of Duluih, Minn. Since that date, Miss Holt 
and her orphan girls have seen the evacuation of the British 
Army, the occupation and evacuation of the Greek Army, 
and finally the occupation of the Turkish Army on June 20th, 
1921. Miss Holt and her Assistant, Miss Markarian, sailed 
recently for the United States for a much needed vacation. 
They deserve great credit for organizing and superintending 
the orphanage under trying conditions and for the splendid 
spirit which exists among the children. 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 3 


AMERICAN N.E.R. WORKERS RESCUED 
BY ARMENIAN GIRLS 

On Sunday, June 11th, when returning from the Island 
of Halki to Constantinople in a motor sail boat, eight Amer- 
ican Near East Relief workers drifted three hours in the Sea 
of Marmora, owing to the breaking down of the engine and 
the lack of wind to use the sails. 

When the boat was about one mile and a half off the 
west end of the Island of Proti, the motor stopped working. 
No -boats were passing in this direction, and the little motor 
sailer drifted for three hours. Fortunately the sea was very 
quiet, and by sculling with an oar the boat was finally steer- 
ed nearer Proti. 

About eight o’clock in the evening, the stranded Amer- 
icans were successful in hailing some Armenian girls in a 
caique. They came at once to the rescue and landed the 
shipwrecked party safely on Proti. 

The Near East Relief workers were Miss Pauline and 
Josephine Strode, of Chicago, 111., Miss Mae Schenck, of Buf- 
falo, N.Y., Miss Mary Morton, of Washington, D.C., Miss 
Katherine Paddock, of Kankakee, 111., Miss A. H. Chickering 
of Worcester, Mass., Mrs. M. Cruikshank, of Portland, Ore., 
and Miss Caris E. Mills of Princeton, N.J. 


MR. LOUIS FOLEY WRITES FROM THE 
LEBANONS 

Mr. and Mrs. Louis Foley, of Columbus, Ohio, are in 
charge of the largest Near East Relief orphanage center for 
Armenian girls in the Beirut Area. The orphanage is situat- 
ed in the buildings of an old Armenian Convent high up on 
the side of the Lebanon Mountains, overlooking the beautiful 
Bay of Djounieh and the Syrian coast of the Mediterranean. 
The following are extracts of a recent letter from Mr. Foley. 

“Away up here in the Lebanon Mountains, in the tiny 
village of Ghazir, we have had a very busy winter and spring. 
The girl orphans not only made the clothing and mattresses 
for our orphanage, which has been enlarged, but they have 
also helped outfit the other Near East Relief orphanage cen- 
ters of the Beirut Area which are taking in the children from 
interior points. Last Thursday, Ascension Day, as a reward 
to the girls who have worked most faithfully during the 
winter and spring, an excursion was planned to visit “Notre 
Dame du Liban.” 

“Crowning a knoll on one of the ridges of the Lebanons 
and visible for miles up and down the Syrian coast, stands 
the beautiful statue of “Our Lady of the Lebanons.” This 
majestic .white figure, against the background of dark Leba- 
non pines, never fails to create admiration whether or not it 
stirs any feeling of religious fervor. The cone-shaped base 
underneath, thirty-two metres in height, has a very attractive 

little chapel inside. A spiral walk leads over the chapel to 
the foot of the statue. 


“The orphan girls started on their trip at 4 a.m., climb- 
ing the road which winds upward from Ghazir. They ar- 
rived at the statue in time for early Mass which was held that 
day at 7 : 30 a.m. The return trip was made more slowly, 
and it was dark when the girls arrived home. Good Mere 
Colombe had the Turkish bath heated in readiness for them 
After a hot bath, they went to bed tired but happy. They 
had travelled to the beautiful white statue which had so long 
looked down upon them from the top of the mountain.” 


MISS CUSHMAN S ORPHANS WIN FIRST PLACE 

In the first large International Sports Meet to he held in 
Constantinople, the Armenian orphans of Miss Cushman's 
Near East Relief orphanage on the Bosphorus, won first 
place in the calisthenic exhibition. Their trainer, a former 
Russian officer, is obtaining splendid results in drilling the 
orphan children. They are becoming healthier, more alert, 
brighter in their studies, and show a keen interest in all kinds 
of out-door sports. 

The International Sports Meet was held at Taxim, Con- 
stantinople, June 8th and 10th, by the Y.M.C.A. Representa- 
tives from the athletic organizations of the many nationalities 
in Constantinople took part. 


THE PETITE MAMAN” SYSTEM 

Mr. Carroll Sudler, President of the Lithographic Film 
Company of Chicago, and Mrs. Sudler, who recently visited 
the Ortakeuy Jewish Orphanage, Constantinople, became so 
interested in the “Little Mother System” that they hope to 
introduce it in a Chicago institution. 

Each of the older girls of the Jewish orphanage is appoin- 
ted “Mother” to four of the small girls and is responsible for 
the care of their clothes, appearance, and behavior. There 
is great rivalry among the “Little Mothers” to be the head of 
the best behaved and best appearing family. This system 
teaches the older girl responsibility and has produced real 
love and effection among the “make believe” family. 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

McFarland, Katherine (Philadelphia, Pa.) A.R.C. Nurse ; 

graduated Children’s Hospital, Philadelphia; 
Public Health Nurse, Philadelphia ; Red Cross 
work, Czecho-Slovakia, 1921-22. 

Greve, Bell (Cleveland, Ohio) Social Service Worker; Family 
Case Work, Dept. Public Health, Cleveland, 
Ohio, 1916-18; State Supervisor, Ohio Board 
of State Charities, 1918-21 ; Child Health Cen- 
ter Organizer, American Red Cross, Czecho- 
slovakia, 1921-22. 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Miss Emma Wood (Sarnia, Ontario) Chief A.R.C. Nurse 
of the Near East Relief and Superintendent of the Near East 
Relief Hospital for Tubercular Children, Constantinople, 
is returning to Canada and the United States for a three 
months' leave of absence. Miss Katherine McFarland (Phil- 
adelphia, Pa.) A.R.C. Nurse, who recently joined the Near 
East Relief, will take charge of the work during Miss Wood’s 
absence. 

Miss Francis McQuaide (Charleston, W. Va.) A.R.C' 
Nurse, who has been in charge of the large Child Welfare 
Clinics of the Near East Relief in Constantinople for two 
years, is returning shortly to the United States for a three 
months’ leave of absence. 

Miss Fanny Strowger (Rochester, N.Y.), Miss Elizabeth 
Gillespie, A.R.C. Nurse (Detroit, Mich.), Miss Katherine Pel- 
low, A.R.C. Nurse (Detroit, Mich.), and Mr. Fred P. Mar- 
gerum (Elizabethville, Pa.) who have been (Connected with 
the work of the Near East Relief in Alexandropol, Caucasus 
Area, arrived in Constaniinople, June 16th from Batoum. 
They are returning to the United States. 

Mr. Harry C. Moffett (Lebanon, Ohio), Mrs. Dorothy 
Sutton (Colebrook, Conn.) Dr. and Mrs. A. W. Dewey (Bos- 
ton, Mass.), and Miss Grissel MacLaren (Fall River, Mass.) 
arrived in Constantinople from the Ismid Unit, June 13th. 
Miss MacLaren will sail shortly for the Caucasus where she 
will be connected with the Medical Department in Alexan- 
dropol. 

Mr. and Mrs. Edward F. Martin (Peshtig, Wis.) arrived 
in Constantinople from Derindje, June 13th. Mr. Martin 
has been in charge of the Derindje Supply Base, and super- 
intended the moving of the supplies to the new warehouses 
at Ortakeuy on the Bosphorus. 

Dr. Esther Pohl Lovejoy, the Head of American Wo- 
men’s Hopitals, arrived in Constantinople by the Orient 
Express, June 15th. Dr. Lovejoy will visit the Caucasus 
Area of the Near East Relief where the American Women's 
Hospitals have a large medical unit. 

Mr. F. D. Yowell (Washington, D.C.) has arrived at his 
new post in Erivan, Caucasus Area. 

Mrs. Florence Stanton Kalk (Washington, D.C.) has 
been assigned to Haifa, Beirut Area of the Near East Relief, 
in charge of an orphanage. 

We are glad to report that Mr. B. F. Plimpton (Hollis, 
N.Y.) has sufficiently recovered to leave the American Hospi- 
tal, Constantinople. Mr. James W. Van Wert (Fenton, Mich.) 
is rapidly improving at the American Hospital. 

Mr. and Mrs. Walter Curt (Caldwell, N.J.), of the Ro- 


dosto Unit of the Near East Relief, returned to Rodosto,, 
June 14th, after spending a few days in Constantinople. 

Miss Constance Sheltman (Louisville, Ky.) and Miss- 
Dorothy Francis (Westfield, N.J.) spent the week end in 
Brousa. Miss Sheltman, who is in charge of the Industrial 
Department of the Near East Relief in Constantinople, made- 
the trip in connection with establishing weaving work for 
the refugee women of the Brousa District. 

Mr. and Mrs. George White (Grinnell, Iowa), Mr. J. E. 
Briggs (Flushing, N.Y.) and Mr. C.D. Morris (Olean, NiY.)-- 
left Constantinople, Saturday, June 10th, for the Rodosto 
Unit and returned June 12th. They report that the large 
Near East Relief farms for refugees at Rodosto show every 
evidence of a splendid crop of grain and vegetables. The 
refugees are looking forward to the time when the farm 
produce will be ready for market and they will be indepen- 
dent. 

The Ak-Serai Committee for the relief of the Turkish 
poor gave a tea in honor of the members of the Near East 
Relief, Thursday, June 15th, at Ak-Serai. This Committee 
has opened industrial work for the poor of the section. 

Mr. F. B. Applebee (New York City) who has been con- 
nected with the Alexandropol Unit of the Near East Relief,. 
Caususus Area, is in Tiflis and will return shortly to Con- 
stantinople. 

Miss Rebecca Parker (Pomerania, N.J.) Is sailing June 19th 
for the United States on the S. S. "Deep Water.” The S. S* 
"Deep Water” has just returned from a trip to Odessa and 
Batoum with supplies for the A. R. A. and the Near East 
Relief. 

Miss Ann Dingledine (Cayahoga Falls, Ohio) and Miss 
Ethel Thompson (Mattapan, Mass.) have left Harpoot and are 
on their way to Constantinople via Beirut. Miss Dingledine 
has been Secretary of the Near East Relief Unit at Harpoot 
and Miss Thompson has been connected with orphanage work. 

Major C. C. Davis, of the American Red Cross, has re- 
turned from a conference at Prague to discuss the Russian 
situation. He also visited London and other places. 

Mrs. Harold M. Speers of New York, sole surviving sister 
of Mrs. William S. Dodd of Konia, died last month, shortly 
after arriving in New York from her trip in the Near East. 

Mr. Clark B. Martin, formerly Superintendent of Indus- 
trial work in Erivan, Caucasus Branch, has been assigned to- 
Batoum as Regulating Officer. 

Miss Blanche Scribner (Lansing, Mich.) has been trans- 
fered to the Finance Department, Tiflis Headquarters, Cauc- 
asus Area. 


Printed by H. M ATTEOSI AN 
Bible House, Constantinople 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 25 Near Cheraghan Palace, Ortakeuy, Constantinople June 24, 1922 

Caris E Mills, Editor 


BRITISH- AJ1ERICAN WEDDING 

An impressive military wedding took place, Saturday, 
June 24th, in the British Embassy Chapel, Constantinople, 
when Captain William Russell Brazier, of the British Army, 
and Miss Beatrice May Johnston, of the Near East Relief, 
were married. 

The bride, who wore a gown of ivory crepe meteor with 
a beautiful veil of old rose point, was given away by Admiral 
Mark L. Bristol, American High Commissioner. The maid 
of honor and bridesmaids, Miss Ann Stewart, of the Amer- 
ican Y.W.C.A., Miss Winifred Edwards of the Near East 
Relief, and Miss Dorothy Baker, of Constantinople, wore 
gowns and hats of organdie. Miss Ruth Leavitt, little 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Leavitt, acted as flower 
girl, and Master Nigel Gribbon, son of Colonel and Mrs. W ; 
H. Gribbon, was page. Captain Brazier was attended by 
Captain G. M. Churcher as best man. 

Just before the wedding party entered the chapel, Mrs. 
W. F. Faviell, wife of Col. Faviell of the British Army, sang 
softly, "Oh, promise me.” Mrs. Charles Wylie played the ac- 
companiment and the wedding march. The ceremony was per- 
formed by the Rev. L. Hughes, Senior Army Chaplain, and the 
Rev. Mr. Whitehouse, Rector of the British Embassy Chapel. 
Officers, American and British, formed a Guard of Honor with 
crossed swords as the bridal couple left the chapel. After 
the ceremony, a reception was held in the American Embassy 
which was beautifully decorated for the occasion. 

Captain and Mrs. Brazier left for Paris by the Orient 
Express, June 25th. They will visit various points in Europe, 
England and Scotland before returning to Constantinople in 
September. 


THE FIRST SCHOOL FOR CHAUFFEURS, 
CONSTANTINOPLE 

A chance remark of Mr. R. E. Olds, of Lansing, Michi- 
gan, inventor of the Oldsmobile and Reo Truck, during his 
recent visit to Constantinople, has been the means of starting 
the first school for chauffeurs in the largest city of the Near 
East. When dodging the congested traffic on the Grand Rue 
de Pera in an automobile, Mr. Olds remarked, "If I lived 
here, I would start a sehool for chauffeurs.” A recent gift of 
money from Mr. Olds to Miss Caris E. Mills for relief pur- 
poses has started the school. 

Seven of the older orphan boys will receive training at 


the Near East Relief garage at Ortakeuy under the head 
mechanic and chauffeurs. A room has been rented for the 
boys and their meals will be furnished at the Ortakeuy 
Orphanage. 

As quickly as these boys become expert, positions will be 
found for them in the city and sev£n more orphans will take 
their places. Wages are paid to the boys at the rate of 2 1 k 
piasters per hour. 

Industrial training is carried on in the orphanages in 
carpentry, shoemaking and tailoring but there has been a 
danger of outdoing the need for these particular branches. 
A well trained chauffeur and mechanic is in demand in 
Constantinople where automobiles are becoming more and 
more numerous, Mr. Olds has given the orphans of the East 
the first opportunity to train in automobile work. 


THE LARGEST TEXTILE FACTORY 
IN THE NEAR EAST 

Mrs. Byrtene Anderson, of Jacksonville, Florida, has or- 
ganized and is superintending the largest textile and sewing 
industry in the Near East. Under Mrs. Anderson's supervi- 
sion, 4000 children are studying half the day in the Kazachi 
Post orphanage, Alexandropol, and working the balance of 
the time in the industrial rooms. They are combing, wash- 
ing, carding, spinning and weaving the raw wool into cloth 
which has been of greater value than money during the past 
winter. The entire output of cloth is used for clothing 
the 20,000 orphan children which the Near East Relief is 
supporting at Alexandropol, 

One of the former barracks of the Czar’s soldiers is in 
use for the textile works. The children are not only produc- 
ing much needed cloth but they are learning a trade which 
will lead to future independence. This work does not inter- 
rupt their studies or their play hours. They work in relays 
- a certain number in school, a certain number out of doors 
in the sunshine, and a certain number at work. 

An old resident of the country who remembered the bar- 
racks as a military centre, writes: “ Here in this place where 
once was staged all the accompanying activities of the mili- 
tary art, the attributes of a nobler story have their place. 
Where men were trained in the technique of war, children 
are learning the art of peaceful citizenship through industry.” 

Mrs. Anderson started this work with a few of the older 
children, gradually taking in others until 4000 are now em- 
ployed. "At first,” said Mrs. Anderson, "it was difficult to 
teach the children to concentrate on any one task, owing to 




2 NEAR EAST RELIEF 


their wild life in the mountains and villages searching for 
food. However they are children, and the past is quickly 
growing dim in the interest of the present.” To make work ( 
play and study so interesting that the past is forgotten is a 
big step in the huge piece of reconstruction work which 
America is carrying on in Alexandropol through the Near 
East Relief. 


THE MYSTERY OF DEMIRDASH 

For hundreds of years, an unique industry has been car- 
ried on in the tiny mud-hut village of Demirdash, nestling at 
the foot of snowcapped Mt. Olympus, a few miles from 
Broussa. Far from the outside world, the Greek village 
women bend over their looms busily weaving curtains, bed- 
spreads, sheets, and towels with beautiful openwork borders 
which rival designs of the finest workrooms of Paris. In the 
past, this weaving furnished the trousseaux of the Greek 
brides ; today it is furnishing bread for many refugee fa- 
milies in the Broussa region. 

The Near East Relief Industrial Department sent a ship- 
ment of Demirdash weaving to America in an effort to create 
a market for the work of these poor women. It sold quickly, 
and almost immediately came the questions, “Who designed 
the rose borders, the fruit baskets, the swan motifs, etc. of 
the openwork weaving?” "Why is Demirdash the only 
place in the world which produces this weaving?” To answer 
these questions, Miss Constance Sheltman, of Louisville, 
Ky., the head of the Industrial Department of the Near East 
Relief in Constantinople, made a trip to Broussa and Demir- 
dash where she is employing many of the refugee women in 
weaving. The following is Mis3 Shetlman’s description of her 
trip. 

“We rode from Brousa in a shiny araba (carriage) across 
the plain down one of the white poplar lined roads, passing- 
lovely pantalooned Greek women, men with gorgeous stom- 
achers, donkeys loaded beyond recognition, and all the 
other quaint and charming sights of the interior of Anatolia. 
We travelled nearer and nearer Mt. Olympus, and finally as 
we seemed about to climb the mountain, Demirdash ap- 
peared. It is described by all visitors as ‘the most beautiful 
spot in existence.’ Its quaint charm is beyond the descrip- 
tive power of an amateur. 

“To the right of Demirdash is the village of Kellesen 
where the church, built by women and children, looks like a 
first cousin to the Tower of Pisa. The houses, however, are 
of ugty mud with red tiled roofs, and look very uninviting. 
But the people, not the houses, make a place. Before we 
had gone any distance, a troop of lovely Greek children were 
following our araba, and they were soon joined by some of 
the old residents. The streets were too narrow and bumpy 
for comfortable riding so we left the araba to go on foot and 
see the weaving. We were charmed with the hospitality of 
these simple country folk. Every one asked us to enter their 
poor little huts, and when we looked inside we wondered 


what made the people so smiling in the midst of their 
poverty. 

"The houses were so close together and the streets so 
narrow that the shadows were too dark for a kodak, even at 
noon. It was a pity for high up under the eaves were old 
Byzantine windows with queer designs and inscriptions. 
They had been picked up from neighboring ruins. We 
found a community oven or two and a reservoir where the 
sunshine was strong enough for the kodak but the crow'd 
gathered so quickly that it was impossible to make a good 
picture. 

“Everywhere we asked about the weaving, especially 
questioning the old women. One old woman, carrying a 
trough of black moth-eaten looking bread, told us between 
her two surviving teeth that her grandmother who had lived 
in Demirdash had a loom and made the same patterns she 
was making today. Another women who was sixty-five de. 
dared that her great-grandmother had come from Macedonia 
and brought her patterns with her. Certain families made 
certain patterns which were handed down from generation to 
generation. It was part of the code of honor of the village 
that one family did not copy the designs of the other. 

“Our final visit was in the home of a woman who had 
been a teacher of weaving for fifteen years. She showed us 
her trousseau which was woven with the most beautiful 
designs we had yet seen. But better things followed ! The 
other women with us ran home to bring antique heirlooms, 
and the older work proved to be much more beautiful. 
Every woman makes two wedding sheets with a deep border 
of openwork of the heaviest thread she can find. The sheets 
last a life time. 

“But few specimens of the old work remain ! Piece by 
piece, these precious possessions have been carried to the 
Broussa Bazaar to bring in money to buy bread, and all day 
the looms are humming in the refugee camps of Broussa as 
well as in Demirdash in making articles to exchange for food- 
The weaving industry has become the only means of liveli- 
hood for hundreds of these women. 

“Before leaving Broussa, we gave all kinds of advice 
about weaving the old patterns instead of the new. Filet 
crochet designs have found their way to Demirdash but are 
not nearly as beautiful as the fine old borders. It was nearly 
dusk when we finally departed. 

“As we drove out of the village, the church bells were 
ringing for the death of a villager. Greek soldiers who had 
once been in America joyfnlly hailed us at the outposts with 
“Hello! Are you from the States?” These boys are glad 
to see some one from ‘home’ as they call America. The 
country was peaceful, and we passed both Turkish and 
Greek farmers returning from the fields and mulberry groves 
at dusk. As we crossed the plain, a number of little lights 
suddenly appeared in the valley at the foot of the moun- 
tain -it was Broussa illuminated by her month-old electric 
lights. 

“We did not solve the mystery of Demirdash. The 
origin of the beautiful weaving may never come to light but 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 3 


its fame is spreading. When I now look at a piece of De- 
mirdash, I fhink of the quaint little village, the refugee 
mothers bending over the looms in Broussa, the young girls 
who have no other means of support, and I wish every one 
in America would buy a piece of Demirdash to help these 
busy weavers gain an independent living through their 
industry." ' 


THE INTERIOR CITY, MARSOVAN 

Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Compton, of Chicago, III., and Miss 
Sarah Corning, A. R. C. Nurse of Hanover, N. H., have just 
returned to Constantinople after nearly two years’ contimous 
service with the Near East Relief at Marsovan. 

In this interior city, one hundred miles inland from the 
Black Sea, the Near East Relief is supporting 545 orphans, 
carrying on industrial work for the refugee women, and 
maintaining a baby home for the tiny babies left orphans in 
the refugee camps. A medical clinic is in operation for 
the sick. 

"Our children are kept busy all day in industrial work,” 
said Miss Corning, "owing to the fact that it has been im- 
possible to carry on the schools. Our weaving room is a 
busy place and the girls have become expert weavers. I am 
wearing a dress of grey homespun made on one of these or- 
phanage looms. The children weave the material for their 
own clothes and seem to enjoy doing it. They are par- 
ticularly happy when weaving a bright piece of cloth. The 
older girls do dressmaking, and every child can knit and 
spin. Lace work is considered play. The boys do the shoe- 
making, tailoring, garden work and carpentry.” 

" We have a mending room,” continued Miss Corning, 
"where the little boys mend their clothes and knit their own 
stockings. It is interesting to watch the systematic way in 
which they do it, sitting about the floor in groups, cutting, 
sewing and patching." 

Both Mrs. Compton and Miss Corning were sorry to 
leave the baby home. These babies, although under three 
years of age, have learned a little English, and would call 
out through the window, "Come again !” "How are you ?” 
"We ore well, thank you !” “My name in Anastasia./ 

On Easter morniug, these twenty five babies were in- 
vited to the Near East Relief house for breakfast. They were 
so tiny that they climbed the steps on all fours. When they 
reached the top, twenty five little black heads bobbed up and 
said, "Good Morning !” and “Happy Easter !” They were 
presented with rag dolls which Mrs. Compton and Miss 
Corning made of unbleached muslin, tape, and sawdust. 
These rag dolls are their dearest possessions and each baby 
goes to sleep at night with a rag doll fightly clasped in 
its arms. 

There are 120 little boys and girls in the kindergarten. 
Instead of cutting out bright paper pictures as our children 
do at home, these tots have become quite expert in knitting 
sweaters for the older children and for themselves. They 


also made the Christmas gifts this year -a bib for each baby 
and various little gifts for the other children. 

The refugee women, who are made self-supporting 
through the adult industrial work, are employed in washing, 
combing, carding, spinning, and weaving wool which is 
made into cloth for the children's clothes and general relief 
purposes. They make attractive “jejims” or woven embroi- 
dered blankets which are used to cover beds, or couches, and 
would make ideal steamer rugs. 

Although far away in this interior city, for many months 
without mail, Mr. and Mrs. Compton and Miss Corning were 
so interested in the work that the time did not pass slowly. 
''Our work was of so much importance to these little children 
and helpless women,” said Miss Corning, “that the lack of 
other interests seemed trivial. We went to bed each night 
too tired to care whether or not we had seen a play or the 
opera for two years, but knowing that hundreds of people 
were depending upon our work for their existence.” 

Miss Charlotte R. Willard, of Chicago, III., Miss Gertrude 
Anthony, of Berkeley, Cal., and Miss Fanny Noyes, of Ober- 
lin, Ohio, returned to Marsovan, May 15th, and will carry on 
the work of the Unit during the absence of Mr. and Mrs. 
Compton and Miss Corning. 


A SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT IN ANATOLIA 

When Mr. J. Herbert Knapp, of Los Angeles, Cal., began 
his duties in Arabkir, Anatolia, as Director of the Near East 
Relief, there was not a free school in the city. Only the 
children of the well-to-do could afford to pay the fees. As 
the greater number of the people were very poor, there were 
only 150 in a city of 7000 who had any prospect whatever of 
learning to read or write. Children played listlessly about 
the streets or were little slaves for tinsmiths, coppersmiths, or 
dye makers. Arabkir is known as the "dyeing city" on ac- 
count of the manufacture of dye, but Mr. Knapp found it 
literally a dying city in many other ways. 

Although Mr. Knapp’s time was taken up in questions 
ot relief for refugees, orphans, etc., this school problem in- 
terested him keenly. Finally the Armenians implored him 
to be Superintendent of Schools. He accepted on condition 
that the schools should be free and open to all children. 
The community agreed to do their utmost to raise funds, the 
Near East Relief paid an amount covering the expenses of 
the orphans, and a few donations were sent by Armenians in 
America for this purpose. For the first time in history, 
Arabkir had a free school system. 

The Near East Relief aided in securing an additional 
building and Mr. Knapp made a trip to Egin to secure school 
supplies. Paper was very expensive and was therefore^beyond 
the reach of the school budget. However, in a quaint little 
store, resting on shelves since before 11 the war, some paste- 
board German slates were found. The merchant was glad 
to sell them at a cheap price as he considered them dead 
stock. There was then the question of blackboards. Lamp 
black, olive oil, and sand finally solved the problem, product 


% 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


ing a paint which would hold the chalk. The teaching was 
accomplished almost entirely through the medium of these 
blackboards and German slates. 

The school attendance leaped at once from 150 to 800. 
“I was amazed at the change in some of the children after 
attending school a few months,” said Mr. Knapp. “Their 
general appearance and even the expressions of their faces 
changed. Children who had previously taken little interest 
in anything suddenly developed an alertness and desire to 
learn. Our Near East Relief orphans, however, led every 
class. This may have been partly due to their regular or- 
phanage life under American influence, but it was also due 
to the fact that many of them were the children of well edu- 
cated parents who had died during the war. We had the 
sons and daughters of teachers, doctors, lawyers, preachers, 
and many of them naturally inherited a strong desire for 
knowledge.” 

Miss Bessie B. Murdoch, Director of Medical Work, and 
Mr. Knapp attended all examinations, and examined person- 
ally the classes in English. It was with great regret that the 
pupils bid them farewell. They had given the children of an 
interior city a chance for an education in addition to carry- 
ing on a fine piece of constructive relief work. 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Stowe, B. B. (Hempstead, L. I.) ; Executive ; wide experience 
in construction work. 

i 

Hall, Isabel R. (Boston, Mass.) A. R. C. Nurse ; American 
Commission to Serbia, 1919-1922 ; joined Near East 
from Serbia to take charge of Child Welfare Clinics 
during the absence of Miss Frances McQuaide. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Compton (Chicago, 111.) and Miss 
Sarah Corning (Hanover, N. H.) A. R. C. Nurse, arrived in 
Constantinople from the Marsovan Unit of the Near East 
Relief. After two years' continuous service, they are leaving 
on a vacation. 

Mr. J. Herbert Knapp (Los Angeles, Cal.) and Miss Bes- 
sie B. Murdoch (Chicago, 111.) sailed from Constantinople, 
June 24th; for Marseilles. 

Dr. Esther Pohl Lovejoy, the Head of the American 
Women's Hospitals, left Constantinople for Serbia, June 21st. 
Dr. Lovejoy expects to return shortly to Constantinople. 

Miss Nan Lowe (Avis, Pa.) who has been directing the 
work of the Near East Relief in Adana, is on her way to 
Constantinople. 

Mr. J. K. Lyman (State of Washington) and Mrs. Kharos- 
ian sailed on the S. S. Remo, June 24th for Italy. They have 


been connected with the Marash Unit of the Near East Relief 
for three years. 

Miss Isabel R. Hall, A.R.C. Nurse, will take charge of 
the Constantinople Child Welfare Clinics of the Near East 
Relief during the absence of Miss Frances McQuaide in the 
United States. 

Mrs. Claude Gilson, of Holliston, Mass., has been visit- 
ing Constantinople and Broussa during the past two weeks. 

Dr. Alexander Lyons, of Brooklyn, N.Y., is visiting Con- 
stantinople in the interests of relief work. 

Dr. and Mrs. C. F. Gates, of Robert College, left for 
Switzerland, June 24th. 

Mr. and Mrs. Warren E. Bristol and family sailed from 
Constantinople for the United States, June. 24th. Mr. Bris- 
tol has been Generai Secretary of the Y.M.C.A. in Constan- 
tinople for three years. 

Professor George H. and Mrs. Huntington are leaving. 
Constantinople for the Unted States, Friday, June 30th. They 
will spend one year in Ameriea. Professor Huntington is a 
member of the Administrative Board of the Near East Relief. 

Mr. and Mrs. John M. Berry, of Chicago, sailed on the 
"Remo,” June 24th, after spending two weeks in Constanti- 
nople. 

Mrs. Charlotte Mills (Toledo, Ohio) the hostess of the 
Near East Relief personnel house in Constantinople, is re- 
covering from a badly sprained ankle. 

Miss Pauline and Miss Josephine Strode (Chicago, 111.) 
are making a collection of Armenian folk dances. They con- 
sider many of the native folk dances well worth teaching in 
the playgrounds of America. 

Dr. and Mrs. George L. Richards, who have been visiting 
Constantinople for the past two weeks, have left for Smyrna 
where Dr. Richards is a Trustee of the American College for 
Girls. 

Many thousands of dogs and not a few cats have re- 
cently been poisoned in Constantinople by order of the Pre- 
fecture in an attempt to stamp out a rather serious outbreak 
of rabies. It is reported that 149 persons are under treatment 
in the Pasteur Institute who have been bitten by dogs. 

The Rev. Harrison A. Maynard, of Erivan, is spending 
the summer in Hissar, Constantinople with his family, They 
expect to leave for Erivan in September. 

Dean Louise B. Wallace, of Constantinople Girls' Col- 
lege, left Constantinople on Saturday for a summer in 
Europe. • 


Printed by H. MATTEOSIAN 
Bible House, Constantinople 




Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 26 Near Cheraghan Palace, Ortakeuy, Constantinople July 1, 1922 

Caris E. Mills, Editor 


AMERICAN WEDDING, CONSTANTINOPLE 

On Saturday, July 1st, at high noon, Mr. Frank Leslie 
Hinkle, of Washington, D. C., was married to Miss Katherine 
Paddock, of Kankakee, 111., a member of the Near East Relief. 

The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Robert Frew, 
D. D., at the Dutch Embassy Chapel, Pera, Constantinople. 
The bride was given away by Mr. H. C. Jaquith, Managing 
Director of the Near East Relief. Miss Mae Schenck of the 
Near East Reilef, acted as bridesmaid, and Mr. Philip H. 
Chadbourne of Constantinople, attended Mr. Hinkle as best 
man. The wedding March was played by Miss Dorothy 
Francis, of Westfield, N.J. 

A luncheon was given for the wedding party at Tokat- 
lian's after which Mr. and Mrs. Hinkle left by motor boat 
for Prinkipo. 


N. E. R. CHILD WELFARE CLINICS, 
CONSTANTINOPLE 

Every city has its poor, every city has its slums, but 
Constantinople with its 130,000 refugees, thousands of or- 
phans, lack of sanitation, wretched housing conditions, its 
abnormal amount of degradation, suffering and poverty, al- 
most tops the ladder in its crying need for child welfare 
work. 

30 Free Clinics Weekly 

One of the most constructive pieees of Near East Relief 
work in Constantinople today is the system of Child Welfare 
Clinics which is under the charge jof Miss Frances McQuaide, 
A.R.C. Nurse of Charleston, W. Va. Thirty free clinics are 
held weekly in the five poorest districts of the city where the 
residents are unable to pay for the little medical assistance 
which is available. For a time seven centres were in opera- 
tion but shortage of funds required the curtailing of the 
work, much to the regret of many little patients and nurses 
as well. 

Over 115,828 Treatments 

Since the work has been under the charge of Miss 
McQuaide, 115,828 medical treatments have been given 
to sick and undernourished children of the city. Mothers of 
many nationalities, Armenian, Turkish, Greek, Syrian, Jewish, 
Russian, meet at Miss McQuaide’s clinics with but one 
thought — to cure their sick children. The hatreds and 
jealousies existing between nations of the Near East are for- 


gotten by the mothers in their effort to build up the poor 
little undernourished bodies which they carry in their arms 
to the American nurse. 

Training Class of Native District Nurses 

To meet in a small way at least, the demand for district 
nurses in this city, Miss McQuaide has trained a class of four- 
teen native girls who aid in the clinics and visit the homes. 
These nurses in their uniforms of grey, white collars and 
cuffs, black sailor hats bearing the white star insignia of the 
Near East Relief, find their way into the poorest homes of 
the city where there is sickness, first to bring medical aid and 
then to teach the proper care of the patient. 

The nurse is not only the friend and adviser of the fa- 
mily, teaching a little home sanitation and the simple rules 
of health, but she creates a zone of influence about her in 
the neighborhood. To her the mothers bring their many 
problems. If aid cannot be given personally, she acts as a 
connecting link between her organization and the other phil- 
anthropic societies of the city. She recommends serious 
cases to the American doctor for a permit to enter a city hos- 
pital, and she adds from the Near East Relief stores eva- 
porated milk, rice, or some nourishing food to eke out the 
scanty supply of a poor family. Four of the native nurses re- 
cently sailed for America to finish their training in Amer- 
ican hospitals. 

* 

Fighting Trachoma in Constantinople Slums 

One of the serious problems with which the Child Wel- 
fare nurse must contend is the spread of trachoma, the 
serious eye disease of the East. Nineteen trachoma clinics 
are in operation weekly where hundreds of children are 
treated with the most up-to-date methods in an effort to 
check the disease before blindness results. It is interesting 
to attend a trachoma clinic and observe the patience with 
which these Eastern children undergo an operation. The lid 
of the eye is rolled back, the inside of the lid scraped, and a 
strong ointment applied to kill the germ. The children go 
through the painful ordeal without a murmur and even plead 
for treatments to cure this distressing disease which leads to 
blindness. The neglect of trachoma in the past is the cause 
of the many blind beggars seen about the city streets. 

An American Adult Clinic in Old Stambonl 

Twice a week an adult clinic is held in Stamboul, near 
the old bazaar section, for the care of men and women who 
have not funds to pay for medical treatment. A mass of 
ragged humanity waits at the doors of the old Near East Re- 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


lief Headquarteres, for the opening of these clinics. Some 
days the line is too long for the American doctor to cover, 
and a number of dejected looking human beings are turned 
away. 

The Unlimited Need in Constantinople 

< 

Dr. Charles D. Clark, of Oberlin, Ohio, a graduate of 
Michigan University and Johns Hopkins, is the American 
doctor in attendance at the clinics. In talking about this 
work, Dr. Clark said, “Miss McQuaide is operating a child 
welfare clinic system which compares well with any I have 
seen in Europe or America. Her work is much hampered 
by lack of funds, but she has accomplished wonders with the 
resources at her disposal. The need in Constantinople for 
work of this type is almost unlimited but we are doing our 
utmost to help to the extent of our budget two great needs in 
the slums of the city -the need to keep clean and the need to 
keep well.” 

Miss McQuaide who is a graduate of Johns Hopkins, 
Baitimore, has been in medical service abroad for over four 
years, first with the Red Cross in Jerusalem, later in Poland, 
and for two and a half years with the Near East Relief. Miss 
McQuaide is returning, July 4th, to the United States for a 
much needed rest. Miss Isabel R. Hall, of Boston, Mass., 
will carry on the Child Welfare clinics until Miss McQuaide’s 
return in the early autumn. 


CLEVELAND DODGE HOME, CONSTANTINOPLE 

The new Near East Relief industrial home for boys has 
been christened by the Armenian Central Committee “Cleve- 
land Dodge Home” for Mr. Cleveland Dodge of New York 
City, Treasurer of the Near East Relief and one of the great- 
est benefactors of orphan children. The following are extracts 
from, the Constantinople May Orphanage report by Miss 
Glee Hastings. 

Within a short time, the old Headquarters of the Near 
East Relief in Stamboul will be resounding with the buzz of 
saws and the pounding of nails, the whirring of the sewing- 
machines and the hammering of tin. 300 boys, over 14 
years of age, will be receiving a practical industrial training 
which will enable them at the first opportunity to drop out 
of the over-crowded orphanage ranks and earn their own living. 

The Near East Relief is putting the building into shape 
for an orphanage, is providing initial equipment and capital 
for the industries, and is paying the rent for one year. After 
the school is once in running condition, it will be supported 
on the same basis that the other Armenian orphanages are 
conducted, i. e. a fifty-fifiy proportion for the Near East Re- 
lief and the Armenian Central Committee. 

Five industrial courses will be given on the school 
premises- cabinet-making, joinery, the making of cane-seated 
chairs, tinsmithing and tailoring. In these courses will be 
grouped approximately 150 boys. The other 150 boys will 
be apprenticed out to tradespeople and artisans in the market 


district which is conveniently near the school. There will be 
no academic courses given with the exception of some night 
classes for the benefit of boys who may wish to continue 
their studies. 

Thirty orphan boys who have become expert carpenters 
at Kouleli have moved into the building in Stamboul and 
are helping to build the new sheds which will house some of 
the industries. Seven of these boys, ’during two rainy days 
when they could not work, found apprentice jobs for them- 
selves, and are therefore well-started on their independent 
careers. This goes to prove that if these orphan boys are 
given an opportunity to get away from orphanage confines 
and come in contact with outside market activities, they may 
do something to help themselves. The boys are not lazy — 
they are filled with enthusiasm at the idea of earning their 
own bread and beans and olives. 


A N.E.R. MOUNTAIN PULLMAN 

Trekking with 229 children through the mountain wilder- 
nesses of Asia Minor on a ten days' journey to the Mediterra- 
nean coast fell to the lot of a Near East Relief worker last 
June. Letters received from Mr. W. T. Gannaway, a graduate 
of Grinnell College, Iowa, indicate that he succeeded with this 
difficult piece of work. 

Mr. Gannaway had served seven months with the Near 
East Relief at Marash when he received orders to evacuate the 
orphans there to the Beirut Area. The step was part of a 
general policy of concentration and economy. 

“Just how I was to transport 229 children over the 
mountains, while lacking motorcars and railroads, was not 
mentioned in my orders,” said Mr. Gannaway. "None of 
the children could stride a horse, and many of them were too 
small to keep their seat on donkey-back. So I had to create. 

I believe I turned out something in the way of equipage 
which presented the funniest sight ever since Noah and his 
outfit marched into the Ark. I asked the Near East Relief 
industrial department to build fifty or sixty good sized boxes. 
These I hitched in pairs across the backs of ninety mules, 
and into these panniers I loaded the children, two to each 
box. Behind each mule, thus loaded, came a second animal, 
Searing the food and bedding for the kid-quartette just ahead 
of him. Off started this Near East Relief vestibuled Pullman, 
down the mountain, while the Americans waved me good 
luck from the personnel house windows," 

No cooking was done throughout the trip, the rations 
consisting of bread, nuts and raisins. Camp would be 
pitched by the side of the mountain-trail, each child sleeping 
rolled up in blankets upon the ground. The natural water- 
supply was dangerously short and sometimes eight hours 
would be passed without a sign of moisture along the route. 
Whenever a water-hole was found, it was the signal for a halt, 
when 229 canteens, made in the Near East Relief workshops 
from gasoline tins, would be ftlled. 

During the trip seven of the children became sick with 
sun-sickness. I was beginning to feel nervous about them,” 




__________ — 




1 


— 


^ ' - • m«n.. 

I 


% 

NEAR EAST RELIEF 3 


said Mr. Gannaway, “when the welcome sight of four Near 
East Relief motor trucks appeared on the Aleppo road. They 
had been sent out to meet us, and I can tell you that I was 
grateful to have the responsibility of 229 youngsters off my 
mind at last.” 

Mr. Gannaway states that industries in Marash are at a 
standstill, and the city is filled with destitute refugees. 


INTRODUCING RAG CARPETS IN ANCIENT 

SIDON 

Mrs. Alma Kerr, of Bismark, N. D., has taught some- 
thing new to the people of ancient Sidon in their traditional 
art of weaving. Mrs. Kerr is in charge of one of the large 
Near East Relief orphanages at Sidon and has supervision 
•over 1000 children. 

“I never thought I could teach this nation of weavers 
•something new in their own line,” says Mfs. Kerr, in writing 
home to relatives, “but you never can tell. What 1 put over 
was a thing familiar to every American — the old-fashioned 
rag carpet. Syrians weave rugs and plait reed-mats but the 
fact that you could devise something serviceable out of 
ragged garments was an eye-opener to them.” 

Mrs. Kerr had several hundred little orphans to whom 
she wished to teach a trade. Twice yearly, 1.000 orphanage 
dresses, worn into holes, were accumulating in a huge heap 
which had seemingly no value. Mrs. Kerr saw a happy com- 
bination and set to work. The discarded garments were 
■washed, cut iuto strips, and dyed in lively colors by the older 
•children. Then the kiddies were taught how to roll the strips 
•into balls. A few lessons familiarized them with the art of 
rag-weaving. Colored mats and carpets were turned out by 
the nine-year-olds. 

“Meanwhile," said Mrs. Kerr, “the Sidonian women had 
been watching our preparations with the greatest interest. 
“What can you make of those old ragged clothes?” they 
would ask. When Mrs. Kerr replied, “a carpet !” they smiled 
with evident disbelief. When the first finished piece was 
•shown them, great excitement prevailed. They wouldn't be- 
lieve that such a pretty effective mat could be made of mere 
tags, and they insisted on watching every stage of the process 
before they could be convinced. But who would wish a 
rag-carpet when beautiful rugs were to be found in the 
bazaar, they questioned. Mrs. Kerr met this argument by 
holding a sale for the American ladies at Beirut. They 
bought out the entire stock and begged for more. At this 
the Sidonian women opened their eyes. If wealthy Amerl 
ican ladies could look with favor on rag carpets, there 
was probably something in the idea. 

From that day forward Mrs. Kerr was besieged with 
offers of rags and old clothes which the Sidonians were eager 
to sell. Only the pressure of orphanage work prevented her 
from starting rag-weaving classes among [the native women. 
Apparently the homely art of America's great-grandmothers 
lias come to ancient Sidon to stay. 

“But there is nothing new under the sun,” said Mrs 


Kerr, “and I daresay rag-carpets were wellknown to the wives 
of King Solomon when he composed that proverb at Jeru- 
salem two thousand years ago.” 

Mrs. Kerr is closing her term of service with the Near 
East Relief and will return to Bismark, N. D., this summer. 


N.E.R. WORK IN MALATIA 

Miss Edith L. Wood, A. R. C. Nurse of Philadelphia, 
who has recently returned from Harpoot, writes the following 
concerning her work with the Near East Relief Unit there. 

“On December 1st, I was asked to go to Malatia, a city 
near Harpoot, to take the place of Mr. Wright who had 
typhus. There I found boundless work among the refugees. 
We had taken in about 600 refugee children and 1 found 
them in a deplorable condition. Typhus, smallpox, starva- 
tion, dysentery, bad eyes, and in fact almost every disease 
was in Malatia. My limited supply of medicine seemed use- 
less without beds, clothing, or proper sanitation. 

In the weeks that followed I gathered together a group 
of workers whose task was to chase dirt. They plastered, 
dug drains, made sheet iron stoves, and spent much time in 
chasing the elusive water systems. I did the best I could with 
the little knowledge 1 possessed concerning these various tasks.’ 

“Having an untrustworthy buyer, I took the buying into 
my own hands and soon the shopkeepers of Malatia were fa- 
miliar with the “American Madmoiselle,” as I was called. 

I bought from all merchants who competed with each other 
for my trade. In this way, I was able to save much money 
on food expeuses. 

“The sewing problem was a tremendous one. We had 
but three poor hand machines so I gave out sewing to a great 
number of people who had heen begging for work. Later I 
organized a sewing room where they came each day to sew 
We managed to turn out over three thousand garments in 

less than three months, and we had several hundred yards 
of material in the making when I left. 

“We secured a house which was merely an outside shell, 
but by plastering, putting in partitions and doors, pasting 
paper on for windows, building floors, I managed to get 
quite a good little eighty bed hospital. 

“I had not sufficient money to carry on with but Hie re- 
jecting of the children was one of the hardest things with 
which I had to contend. I neyer went out on the street, but 
a wailing crowd followed me. These human beings were 
much more wretched than my imagination had ever been 
able to picture.” 

Miss Wood is returning to the United States by way of 
China. She has just recovered from a bad attack of typhus 
contracted while carrying on the work at Malatia. 


Miss Nan Lowe (Avis, Pa.), for nearly a year the Direc- 
tor of the Adana Unit of the Near East Relief, arrived in 
Constantinople, June 26th. Miss Lowe is returning shortly 
to the United States after three years of continuous service 
with the Near East Relief. 






■ 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


FIGHTING MALARIA IN FEVER-RIDDEN 
ALEXANDRETTA 

Mrs. J. C. Martin, a former resident of Saratoga, Cal., 
has been fighting an epidemic of malaria at Alexandretta, 
Syria, where 14,000 Armenian refugees are quartered. 

The large camp is situated near Alexandretta's fever- 
ridden marshes and hundreds would have died if Mrs. Martin 
had not made daily trips with Near East Relief supplies - 
quinine, food, and clothes. “When the Armenians left Ci- 
licia/' writes Mrs. Martin, "those with money were able to 
take passage elsewhere, but those who were penniless came 
to Alexandretta, the nearest port. As they would have 
swamped our tiny town, they were relegated to the surround- 
ing marshes where they erected tiny thatched huts. All 
winter they lived ankle-deep In the stagnant pools caused by 
seasonal rains. By February, a malaria epidemic was raging- 

At this juncture, the Near East Relief telegraphed Mrs - 
Martin to hold on, and presently large shipments of Amer- 
ican flour and drugs were dumped on Alexandretta's quay. 
Already twenty percent of the smaller children had died, and 
the entire camp population was prostrate. Dr. Martin had 
arrived in charge-of the supplies, and together he and Mrs. 
Martin went through the shack-dotted marshes, distributing 
flour and quinine. 

“The condition of these once-prosperous people was 
pitiable,” writes Mrs. Martin. “Imagine entering a reed hut ( 
four feet square, and finding a family of six lying on the 
muddy ground, all in a malarial stupor. Our quinine 
supply was limited, and we weighed it out to each sufferer 
like so much precious gold-dust. Happily the earth began 
to dry, and daily doses of quinine soon restored the stronger 
men to their feet. These men eked a living by cutting fire- 
wood for the town. Our flour-supply was also limited and 
hence it was weighed out as carefully as was the quinine. 

I limited the flour-ration to children, and any day you could * 
see a thousand or so little tots in line with buckets or pans 
in hand, filing past the official weigher for the scoopful of 
brown flour which their mothers would bake into circular 
disks, of native bread.” 


MISS CUSHMAN RUNS HER OWN BOAT 

From sixteen years in the interior of Turkey, far from a 
stream of water, to running a chain of Near East Relief or- 
phanages along the Bosphorus, has been a change for Miss 
Emma Cushman, of West Exeter, N. Y. However, with 
her wonderful adaptability, she has beep as quick to see the 
possibilities of the Bosphorus as she was to buy up old can- 
vas army tents to make outfits for her orphans during the 
war. The canvas was dyed blue, and the people of Konia, 
who were unable to obtain cloth, were amazed to see Miss 
Cushman’s boys turn out in neat uniforms. “Where there's 
a will, there'sfa way,” has always been her motto. 

The distance between Miss Cushman's present orphan- 


ages is shorter by water than by land, and a boat is there, 
fore a cheaper mode of transportation than an automobile or 
a carriage. Miss Cushman has therefore rigged up a rowboat 
with an engine, and the chauffeur who drives her to Con- 
stantinople, and teaches a class of orphan mechanics, has a 
new task added to his various occupations. He is Captain 
of the boat which swiftly carries Miss Cushman to look after 
her many children as well as transports the food supplies. 
The boat was purchased at a very small cost and is proving 
a saving in transportation. 


MARY CAROLINE HOLMES WINS DECORATION 

Amid a distinguished gathering of French and American 
officials, Miss Mary Caroline Holmes, Near East Relief 
worker, was decorated with the Croix de Guerre with palms, 
at Beirut, on June 7th. The presentation, which took place 
at the French General Headquarters in the Parc des Pines, 
was performed by General Gouraud, who, in an appreciative 
speech, recalled the valuable services which Miss Holmes ren- 
dered the French at Ourfa, two years ago. Among the Am- 
ericans present to congratulate Miss Holmes, . were Consul- 
General Paul Knabenshue, Mr. Arthur Garrels, Consul- 
General at large, and Mr. and Mrs. Bayard Dodge of the 
Beirut University. 

Miss Holmes has been in charge of a large Near East 
Relief orphanage in Ourfa for three years. Recently the 
children were moved to one of the large concentration points 
near the Beirut Headquarters. Miss Holmes is returning to 
the United States for a much needed vacation. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Mr. H. C. Jaquith, Managing Director of the Near East 
Relief, returned June 25th from an inspection trip to the 
Samsoun, Marsovan, Angora, Konia, Cesarea, Sivas, and 
Harpoot Units. 

The engagement has been announced of Miss Nancy 
Benson, of Ware Oak, Virginia, to Mr. Rees Reger of Phila- 
delphia, Pa. Miss Benson, who has been in charge of the In- 
dividual Remittance Department of the Near East Relief in 
Constantinople for nearly three years, left May 31st for a 
leave of absence in the United States. Mr. Reger, formerly 
Disbursing Officer of the American Red Cross in Budapest,, 
is now connected with the Finance Department of the Con- 
stantinople Headquarters of the Near East Retief. 

Miss Katherine Pellow and Miss Elizabeth Gillespie, A. 
R. C. Nurses of Detroit, Michigan, left Constantinople, June 
26th. They are visiting various points in Europe before re- 
turning to the United States. Miss Pellow and Miss Gillespie 
have been connected with the Medical Department of the 
Near East Relief in Alexandropol where the largest medical 
unit of the Near East is in operation. 


Printed by H. MATTEOSIAN 
Bible House, Constantinople 


ft&UAML i. vwm 


Vol. IV. No. 27 




AUG -9 " 1922 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 

Near Cheraghan Palace, Ortakeuy, Constantinople July 8, 1922 

Caris E. Mills, Editor 



NEAR EAST RELIEF NATIVE DISTRICT NURSES OF CONSTANTINOPLE 


To meet in a small way, at least, the great need for district nurses in Constantinople, Miss Frances 
McQuaide, Director of Near East Relief Child Welfare Clinics, Constantinople, has trained this class of fourteen 
native girls. These nurses have made 48,901 visits to the poorest homes of the city where there is sickness, 
first to bring medical aid and then to teach the proper care of the patient. They have also assisted in giving 
115,828 treatments at the 30 weekly child welfare clinics which the Near East Relief is operating in the 
poorest districts of the city. 


GRITS, THE NEW WORD OF THE CAUCASUS 

The new word on the lips of every Georgian, Armenia^ 
Azerbaijan and Russian in the Caucasus is “grits” which they 
pronounce “g-r-r-r-i-t-s.” 

“Our supply of American corn grits is the greatest power 
in the Caucasus Area today,” said Captain E. A. Yarrow, 
Director General of the Caucasus Area of the Near East Re- 
lief, in talking over the famine situation. “In a famine area 
food is the currency of highest value. A pound of old fash- 
ioned American corn is worth more than a basketful of paper 
money in this region. In growing corn, American farmers 
.are playing the greatest part in meeting the famine situation.” 


Ten Pounds Grits Monthly Salary for 129,000 

The Near East Relief is employing 129,000 refugees in 
Armenia in road building, city sanitation, farming etc., for a 
salary of ten pounds grits each per month. One thousand 
tons of grits have been advanced to ten thousand farmers on 
condition they plant all barley on hand and live on grits un- 
til harvest, repaying with an equal amount. of barley for future 
seed and relief purposes. 

Grits pay for Irrigation Projects, Alexandropol 

Four hundred tons of grits have been allotted to pay for 
labor on irrigation ditch projects in Erivan and Alexandropol. 
This is providing work for thousands of refugees and will 
open wonderful possibilities for agriculture on a large scale. 
The Government is giving its enthusiastic cooperation. 


/ 


2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


UNIQUE RECEPTION GIVEN BY ORPHAN BOYS 

An unique reception was given Friday evening, July 7th, 
by the orphan boys of Vickrey Home, Koum Kapou, Con- 
stantinople, to welcome Mr. Charles Vickrey, General Sec- 
retary of the Near East Relief, for whom the home is named. 

Young carpenters, dentists, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, 
tailors, shoemakers, metal engravers and tinsmiths, among 
the first Near East Relief orphans to be employed by city 
tradesmen, welcomed the guests and thanked Mr. Vickrey for 
•the orphanage industrial training which is now making them 
independent citizens. Mr. Vickrey made an address, en- 
couraging the boys in their work and assuring them that the 
American people who had made their training possible would 
watch with interest the records they would make as citizens. 

Vickrey home is not merely a place to sleep and eat — it 
is a real home in which the boys are breaking away from or- 
phanage confines and linking themselves with the outside 
world. The members of the Armenian Committee in charge 
are men who take a real interest in the future of the boys, 
advising them in their work, inviting them to their homes 
for dinner, showing them the historical points of interest in 
the city, and in fact acting as big brothers to little brothers 
who have spent the last few years of their lives behind or- 
phanage walls. 

Among the guests at the boys’ reception were Mr. 
Charles Vickrey, of New York City, General Secretary of the 
Near East Relief, Mr. Gordon Berry, European Representa- 
tive, Mr. Howard B. MacAfee, of Kansas City, Managing 
Director of the Near East Relief in the Beirut Area, Profes- 
sor J. A. Brown, of New York City and Professor William 
H. Hall, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, members of the Ad- 
ministrative Board of the Near East Relief in the Beirut 
Area, Mr. H. C. Jaquith, Managing Director of the Anatolian 
Area, and other members of the organization. 


THE LOST AND FOUND COLUMN IN TURKEY 

At home in the United States, the “Lost and Found” 
column often reads as follows : 

“Lost t A white dog, fox terrier, with black markings 
on ears and face. Please send information to Box 56. 
Liberal reward offered.” 

In Turkey, the "Lost and Found” column gives little 
space to lost dogs, lost jewelry, etc., but there are many ad- 
vertisements for lost sisters, lost brothers, lost mothers. To 
quote an actual instance, the Personal Service Department 
of the Near East Relief recently inserted the following in a 
well known Constantinople Daily: 

“Lost! A brother!, Nazli Agopian, of the Ghazir Or- 
phanage of the Near East Relief, Beirut Area, is search- 
ing for her lost brother, Vahag Agopian, who once lived 
in Constantinople. The father's name was Antranig, a 


carpenter from Erzeroum. Please send information to 
the Near East Relief, Constantinople.” 

In reply, the following letter reached the Near East Re- 
lief Headquarters from Sofia, Bulgaria, dated June 21st: 

“Dear Sir : 

"I read with greatest emotion the advertisement of 
Nazely Agopian, in the columns of the Constantinople 
paper, Djagadamard, No. 1088. I am Nazely ’s brother 
and I am now established in Sofia. 

“I cannot find words to express my sentiments. 

. The work of your organization is vast and wonderful. 
You have not only cared for my sister but you have 
restored her to me. 

“Although not a wealthy man, I am well able to 
care for my sister. Therefore I beg of you, as soon as 
you receive this letter, to please arrange to send her to 
me. I shall send the necessary documents and money. 

“With heartfelt gratitude, 

I remain, 

Vahag Agopian 

No. 7, Rue Piroutska, Sofia, Bulgaria.” 

The Personal Service Department, which is now in 
charge of Mr. Rees R. Reger, of Philadelphia, is daily sending 
advertisements like the above to the “Lost and Found”' 
columns of Turkey. 


N.E.R. ORPHAN LEADS 

B1THYNIA HIGH SCHOOL IN SCHOLARSHIP 

* 

The Bithynia High School has closed its first year in its- 
new location at Geuz Tepe on the Sea of Marmora, near 
Constantinople. 

Among its 100 boy students of eight nationalities are 
ten orphan boys from the Near East Relief orphanage for- 
merly located at Bardizag. Mr. John Kingsbury, of Albany, 
N.Y., former Director of the Bardizag work, chose these 
boys for high standing in studies and conduct. They have 
fully justified his choice. Each boy passed the examinations 
in all subjects, and one Armenian orphan boy leads the 
school in scholarship. The orphans are the proud members 
of the Boy Scout group. 

A generous gift of money from an American - visitor has 
made it possible for Dr. J. P. McNaughton, the Director of 
the .School, to have the buildings repainted. When the ques- 
tion arose as to where the orphan boys would go during the 
summer vacation, Dr. McNaughton had a happy thought, 
and said, ‘Why, the boys can paint the buildings and help 
earn their summer's expenses." 

Today the large main building of the school is covered 
with scaffolding, and the boys are everywhere, scraping off 
the old paint and putting on the new coat which will make 
the buildings shine before the summer is over. The swish of 
paint brushes, the scraping of knives, and the shouts of boys 
are the only sounds to be heard in quiet Geuz Tepe during 
the day. 


S. 


— 





, 


3 


NEAR EAST &ELIEF 


The boys have decided to speak only English as they 
work. The shouts which come from the scaffolding might 
issue from any crowd of boy painters in America, "Send up 
more paint!” "How much have you painted ? I am almost 
at the corner of the house !” 

When the bell rings at noon, ten boys rush to the Sea of 
Marmora for a swim. They enter the dining room with ap- 
petites which keep the two orphan boy cooks busy. At night, 
after a splash in the sea, they roll up in their blankets under 
the pine trees. Although they cannot join the real camps of 
the wealthier students, they are enjoying camp life. They 
will be able to match camp stories when school opens in the 
autumn. 

There is a home atmosphere about student life at Bithy- 
nia High School which creates a look of content and hap- 
piness in the faces of the students. Each boy has his own 
garden of flowers and vegetables, and many have their own 
pet rabbits, chickens and dogs. Dr. McNaughtcn is to be 
congratulated upon the success of the first year of the Bithy- 
nia High School. 


1000 N.E.R. CHILDREN IN ANCIENT SIDON 

Mr. Porter Morris a graduate of Cornell University, 
who is connected with the large Near East Relief orphanage 
compound in Sidon, writes the following concerning life and 
work in that ancient city. 

Sidon, June 15, 1922. I am writing you from our hill- 
top, ten minutes drive up the hillside from Sidon. Looking 
down on the red-roofed town which is fringed by the Medi- 
terranean's blue, you would hardly think that it was a flour- 
ishing center of commerce and culture in Homeric times, 
and that its merchants were responsible for the founding of 
North African colonies, such as Carthage. 

At least the general outline of the harbor remains and 
certain fragments of ancient masonry which rise in a broken 
line, a hundred or so yards off shore, may have done duty as 
a breakwater in Biblical times, when King Hiram of the 
neighboring city of Tyre floated rafts of Lebanon cedars 
down the coast for the construction of King Solomon's temple 

Just behind the modern town, the rolling land is honey- 
combed with caves from which a large number of Phenecian 
sarcophagi have been removed. Twenty of these, cut out of 
Parian marble, each carved with a wonderfully lifelike por- 
trait of the deceased, were excavated by our neighbor, Dr. 
George Ward, from the land on which his house stands- 
Many of these tombs contain glass vases of an iridescent 
blue, as vivid in coloring as they were 2,000 years ago. A 
Phenecian skull in Dr. Ward's collection displays two front 
teeth, firmly bound together with gold wire -dental "bridge- 
work” twenty centuries old. 

But on our hilltop, we have not much time to think of 
Sidon's glorious past. We three Americans are busy, day 
and night, in looking after 1000 Syrian and Armenian or- 
phans for whom the Near East Relief has here made a home. 
From motives of economy, the interior orphanage-stations 


are being closed and just now we are receiving huge motor- 
truckloads of children from Ourfa and Marash. When they 
reach us, they have been from ten to fifteen days en route, 
having been piloted over the mountain passes of southern 
Anatolia by some Near East Relief worker. 

The average party or caravan consists of from 50 to 80 
mules, bedding material, dried provisions, and several hun- 
dred small children. Sometimes the children are loaded into 
large boxes which are suspended in pairs across the draft- 
animal's back, two children seated in each of these home- 
made panniers. Notwithstanding sun-sickness and shortage 
of drinking-water, the children usually arrive in good con- 
dition. Then our job begins. Two hundred heads must 
be shaved, two hundred baths are given, and two hundred 
pairs of eyes are scrutinized by the doctor who is searching 
for symptoms of trachoma. 

As to classwork, this is given each child for three days a 
week. During the other three days, he or she must be at 
apprentice work in one of our shops where we carry on car- 
pentry, shoemaking, tailoring, stocking making, basket-weav- 
ing, blacksmithing, fruit-preserving and lacemaking. This 
regime continues until the child is fourteen at which time he 
devotes all his time to his trade. As soon as he beeomes 
expert in a trade, he leaves the orphanage. Meanwhile his 
labor in one of the above branches has helped in supplying 
our 18 orphanage buildings with equipment. In fact the 
children themselves do practically all the orphanage work, 
including the daily baking of 900 loaves of bread. 


ARMENIAN COMMUNITY ORPHANAGE 
IN CONSTANTINOPLE 

(From the Orphanage Department Report for June 
by Miss Glee Hastings) 

Kadikeuy Orphanage for Boys, Constantinople, is a 
splendid example of local community work, and is the type of 
enterprise which the Near East Relief wishes to encourage. 
Headed by Mr. Ohanian, who for 30 years has worked for the 
orphans of Armenia, the 2000 Armenian families in Kadikeuy 
are supporting over 500 orphans- 102 boys at the Kadikeuy 
Orphanage, 100 at the Catholic Orphanage, and over 300 
girls at the Tebrofzasser School. The average age of the 
Kadikeuy boys is between 10 and 14 years. The smallest 
boy is five years of age. 

The boys' orphanage is located in a fine, well-repaired, 
beautifully clean and well-ventilated building next door to 
the Armenian School at Kadikeuy. Consequently the boys 
attend the public school and have the benefit of mixing with 
the children of the townspeople. The orphanage pays a total 
of 51 liras a month for the 102 boys and provides their books. 
This amount is a very small part of what a separate orphan- 
age school would cost. 

The total expenses for the Kadikeuy orphanage for the 
month of May were 849.61 liras. The offer of the Near East 
Relief to double all funds raised locally for orphans does not 



dampen the ardor of the Kadikeuy Armenians in supporting 
their own orphanage. 

If 75 double-decker beds can be obtained, 50 additional 
boys from Kooleli can be accepted at Kadikeuy, and the re- 
sponsibility for their care transferred from the overburdened 
Central Committee to the people of Kadikeuy. 


MRS. R. S. EMRICH ATTENDS CONFERENCE AT 
ST. WOLFGANG 

Mrs. R. S. Emrich, the Director of the Case Committee 
of the Near East Relief, has returned from the conference of 
the International World Commission of the Y.W.C.A. at St. 
Wolfgang, Austria. 

Ten kindred philanthropic organizations were invited by 
the Y.W.C.A. to send members, and Mrs. Emrich attended 
as a representative of the Near East Relief as well as a member 
of the Executive Board of the Y.W.C.A. Before a group of 
representatives from all parts of the world, Mrs. Emrich told 
of the work of the Near East Relief- in the Caucasus, Ana- 
tolia, Syria, and Persia, with the result that many of the de- 
legates became very much interested and returned to their 
various countries with a much clearer idea of the activities of 
the organization, 


NOTES FROM KOOLELI ORPHANAGE, 
CONSTANTINOPLE 

Mrs. A. Anthony Burt, of Berkeley, Cal., who is con- 
nected with the work of the large Kooleli Orphanage on the 
Bosphorus, the home of 1000 boys, sends the following notes : 

June has been a strenuous month before the final ex- 
aminations. The older boys take their studies very seriously. 
One sees the youngsters pacing the corridors and the quad- 
rangle, books in hand, declaiming with a faraway look in 
their eyes. 

While the older boys are lost in their studies, doing 
their routine tasks mechanically, the small boys scrub and 
wash and clean with an eagerness, not so much for the work 
as for the forthcoming praise. 

Boy Broom and Mop Brigades 

Some of the classroom floors and windows would be a 
credit to any housewife on Wednesday and Saturday after- 
noons. The Sanitary Superintendent is trying a new plan. 
Instead of assigning work each morning, he now makes the 
boys responsible for a certain piece of work for a week. It is 
quite a sight to see the various brigades start out each morn- 
ing with broom, mop and pail. 

Kindergarten Policemen 

The kindergarten and first preparatory classes have taken 
over the policing of the quadrangle, and it has never been 
kept as clean before. With four boys to a pail, and each 
pail to a certain section, they pick up all trash and gleefully 
consign it to the Bosphorus. 


The kindergarteners are also scrubbing their own dor- 
mitory now and have surprised the “myrig” with their ef- 
ficiency. She was sure they could not do it. 

The teacher in charge of the mending room reports 
much improvement in mending among the small boys. Some 
of the older boys are afraid they will have to become “sewing 
ladies” if they sew too well. Nevertheless, it is certain they 
are all learning something and helping very materially by 
mending their own clothes. With the help of the teacher, a 
good many are knitting new feet in their stockings. 

First Stages of Industrial Training 

Although the carpentry shop is being moved to the new 
Cleveland Dodge Industrial School in Stamboul, Kooleli 
hopes to retain tools and benches for twenty boys to work 
two-hour shifts so that many may learn how to handle tools 
and do simple necessary repairs and odd Jobs. Those who 
show aptitude and desire to become carpenters will be sent 
to Stamboul as they reach a suitable age. The same plan, it 
is hoped, will hold good for tailoring, shoemaking, and other 
industries. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Mr. Charles Vickrey, General Secretary of the Near East 
Relief, Mr. Gordon Berry, European Representative, and Mr. 
Frank America, Secretary to Mr. Vickrey, arrived in Con- 
stantinople, Wednesday, July 5th, by the Orient Express. 

Mr. Howard B. McAfee, of Kansas City, Managing Di- 
rector of the Near East Relief for the Beirut Area, Professor 
J. A. Brown, of New York City, and Professor William R. 
Hall, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, members of the Administra- 
tive Committee of the Beirut Area, arrived in Constantinople, 
Friday, July 7th. 

Captain E. A. Yarrow, Mrs. Yarrow, and their three 
children left Constantinople July 8th for the United States. 
For the past two years, Captain Yarrow has been Director 
General of the Caucasus Area of the Near East Relief, having 
under his charge 30,000 orphans, as well as large medical, 
industrial and agricultural departments for the aid of the 
hundreds of thousands of needy in the famine areas. Mr. B. 
L. Horn, of Athens, Ohio, has been appointed Acting Direc- 
tor General of the Caucasus Area and is temporarily replac- 
ing Captain Yarrow. 

Dr. W. W- Peet, Chairman of the Administrative Board 
of the Near East Relief in Constantinople, has returned from 
a two weeks' trip to Bulgaria where he attended a Mission 
Conference. 

Miss Nan Lowe, of Avis, Pa., Miss M. L. Caldwell, of 
Bristol, Tenn., Miss Francis McQuaide, of Charleston, West 
Virginia, and Mr. B. F. Plimpton, of Hollis, N.Y., members 
of the Near East Relief in the Anatolian Area, sailed July 8th 
on the S. S. “Constantinople” for the United States. 

Miss Emma Wood, of Sarnia, Ontario, Chief A. R. C. 
Nurse of the Near East Relief, left Wednesday, July 5th, for 
a leave of absence in the United States. 






Vol. IV. No. 28 


Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Near Cheraghan Palace, Ortakeuy, Constantinople 

Caris E. Mills, Editor 


July 15, 1922 


AFTER ONE YEAR IN A NEAR EAST RELIEF ORPHANAGE 

These children have learned to play and smile as well as work and study. 


NEW JERSEY FOOD SHIP ARRIVES 

On July 14th, Bastille Day, when the ships of the Allied 
Nations were gaily decorated in honor of the great French 
holiday, the New Jersey food ship "Saugus'' sailed into Con- 
stantinople and anchored off Seraglio Point below the old 
Palace of the Sultans. 

The ship arrived just in time to answer a hurry call for 
food from the famine area, and it will proceed immediately 
up the Blaek Sea to Batoum, the port where Near East Relief 
supplies are received for the thousands of orphans and ref. 
ugees the organization is feeding. 

The cargo of Hershey's cocoa, Campbell's and Heinz 
pork and beans, corn beef, condensed milk, and flour, donat. 
ed by the school children and the industrial plants of New 


Jersey, could not have arrived at a more opportune time. 

Mr. A. H. Skean, of Newark, N.J., a Near East Relief 
Field Worker, sailed in charge of the cargo. 


WORK OF A FEW AMERICAN WOMEN 

* IN THE NEAR EAST RELIEF 

Miss Annie T. Allen, a graduate of Mt. Holyoke College 
was the first representative of the Near East Relief and 
American interests at Angora, the Turkish Nationalist Capital- 
She died at Sivas, February 2nd of typhus, when returning 
from an inspection trip of the Near East Relief work at Har- 
poot. Miss Allen, who was born in Harpoot, Turkey, spent 
her entire life in the service of the people of the Near East- 




2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


Decorated by Three Nations 

Miss Emma Cushman, of West Exeter, N. Y., who is 
now in charge of a chain of Near East Relief orphanages 
along the Bosphorus in Constantinople, has been decorated 
by France, England, and Greece for relief work in Asia Minor. 
During the Great War, Miss Cushman was the only repre- 
sentative at Konia of the three legations in Constantinople 
representing the interests of the Allied Nations in the war. 

In Charge of Largest Medical Unit of East 

Dr. Mabel Elliott, of Lake Worth, Florida, has organized 
and is in charge of the largest medical unit in the Near East. 
This unit is financed by the American Women’s Hospitals in 
cooperation with the Near East Relief, and is caring for the 
health of 20,000 orphans and thousands of refugees. In 
1919, Dr. Elliott remained in Marash through the trying 
siege, caring for the sick and wounded and encouraging the 
citizens to keep up hope. 

Organization of Aid to War Widows 

Miss Mabelle Phillips, of Plainfield, N. J., a graduate of 
Wellesley, opened through the Near East Relief in 1919 the 
first systematic Case Committee in Constantinople for the aid 
of war widows of all nationalities who were struggling to 
make a home for their children. Native committees were or- 
ganized in each poor district of the city which reported condi- 
tions and gave recommendations for aid. Through this help, 
the mothers were enabled to keep their children with them 
instead of placing them in orphanages. Mrs. R. S. Emrich, 
of Framingham, Mass., is now carrying-on this work through 
the Near East Relief in Constantinople. 

Constantinople’s First Child Welfare Clinics 

In 1919, Dr. Elsie Graff, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., a 
graduate of Wellesley and a representative of the American 
Women's Hospitals with the Near East Relief, established the 
first system of Child Welfare Clinics in Constantinople. Five 
centres were opened in the poorest districts of the city where 
mothers of all nationalities carried their sick children for 
medical treatment and advice. During the same year, Dr. 
Graff opened the first training class of native district nurses. 
A number of these nurses are now engaged in private nurs- 
ing in the city, and four have sailed to continue their training 
in America. Miss Frances McQuaide, of Charleston. W. Va., 
an A. R. C. Nurse, is now carrying on the work which has 
grown to such an extent that thirty clinics are held weekly. 

Largest Industrial Center of the East 

Mrs. Brytene Anderson, of Jacksonville, Florida, has or- 
ganized and is in charge of the largest industrial center of 
the Near East. The center which is situated in Alexandropol, 
in the Caucasus Area, is teaching a trade to 4000 Near East 
Relief orphans who work at a trade half the day and spend 
the balance of the time in lessons. The output of this in- 
dustrial work is providing the clothes and equipment for a 
large group of orphans and refugees. 


First Tubercular Hospital for Children 

Miss Emma Wood, of Sarnia, Ontario, Chief A.R.C. 
Nurse of the Near East Relief, in cooperation with Dr. Elsie 
Graff, of the American Women's Hospitals, organized the 
first tubercular hospital for children in Turkey. Miss Wood 
has been in charge of the hospital since its beginning in the 

summer of 1920 and is largely responsible for the success of 
the institution. 

In this Near East Relief hospital, situated just outside the 
old Byzantine walls of Constantinople, weak undernourished 
children of all nationalities are given a chance to breathe 
fresh country air, eat nourishing food, and become strong 
and sturdy. 

DR. ESTHER POIiL LOVEJOY 
IN CONSTANTINOPLE 

Dr. Esther Pohl Lovejoy, the Head of the American 
Women's Hospitals, is spending a few days in Constantinople 
before sailing for the Caucasus. 

While in the Caucasus, Dr. Lovejoy will inspect the 
work of the largest medical unit in the East which is being 
operated by the American Women's Hospitals in cooperation 
with the Near East Relief. This medical unit cares for the 
health of 20,000 orphans, thousands of refugees of the 
Alexandropol famine area, and treats over 16,000 cases of 
trachoma, the eye disease which results in blindness if 
neglected. 


WHAT 7»/2 CENTS CAN DO IN TURKEY 

The sum of 7’/2 cents each gave the children of the Or- 
takeuy Armenian orphanage a day of happiness. Last Friday 
two hundred girls from 7 to 12 years of age had a day's 
outing at Halki, one of the Princes Islands, for 12 V 2 piasters 
or 7V2 cents each. Yet the Director of the orphanage was 
much worried over the total expense and said that there 
could not be another picnic during the summer on account 
of the cost. 

At five in the morning, the children were up and busy 
preparing for the day huge baskets of dry bread, cucumbers, 
boiled eggs (one each) and dolmas (a cold rice mixture 
wrapped in grape leaves). At seven o'clock, the tug which 
carried them to Halki was under way and the day had begun. 

At Halki, the picnic party camped under pine trees on a 
bluff overlooking the Sea of Marmora. Most of the morning 
was spent in excitedly running about, exploring and enjoying 
the sights- a new view of the world to be treasured for the 
other 364 days of the year ! 

The children played, danced and sang, but the grand 
climax was the swimming. The girls took off their blue or- 
phanage dresses and ran joyfully to the water's edge in their 
homespun petticoats. Many had never been in swimming 
before and walked recklessly out into deep water. They 
were much surprised when the water rose over their heads 
and they came up choking and sputtering. 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


3 


While the bathing suits were drying on bush and tree, 
the children played more games and danced more folk dances. 
Then came supper — dry bread, cucumbers and dolmas; the 
■eggs had been eaten for luncheon. 

At sunset all started for home, very tired but happy. 
Although there were seats for only two-thirds of the children 
on the boat, there was no confusion or even suggestion of 
complaint in the two hours’ ride. It was dark when the tug 
docked at Beshiktach, and several of the orphans, much 
worried how the Near East Relief workers would reach home, 
offered to give them their beds. 

Josephine Strode 
Near East Relief Orphanage Dept. 


BOY SCOUT TRAINING IN THE SHADOW 
OF MT. ARARAT 

Boy Scout work is creeping, or rather leaping, to the 
farthest corners of the world, and in Erivan, Armenia, it is 
flourishing at the foot of Mt. Ararat. This universal brother- 
hood of boys has opened its arms to little Armenian Near 
East Relief orphans and is giving them the opportunity 
through athletic training to become sturdy Scouts. 

It would be difficult to find a more enthusiastic group 
of Scouts than the band of Near East Relief orphan boys at 
Erivan who are receiving training in the mysteries of Scout 
lore. Their latest improvement in equipment is a shower 
bath manufactured in the Near East Relief Industrial Work- 
shops. It bears little resemblance to the shower baths of an 
up-to-date Scout Headquarters in the United States, but it 
serves its purpose and is worked to its utmost capacity mor- 
ning and night when long lines of Eastern Scouts wait for 
a chance to stand under the spray. 

The Boy Scout orchestra of Erivan furnishes music for 
the Near East Relief hospitals and orphanages. Its fame has 
spread so rapidly that recently, His Holiness, Kevork V. 
Catholicos of all Armenians, the Head of the world's oldest 
national Christian Church, sent for the boys to play before 
him in ancient Etchmiadzin. 


THE WORK OF CAPTAIN E. A. YARROW 
IN THE CAUCASUS AREA 

Captain E. A. Yarrow, who recently sailed for the United 
States with his wife and family, has given six years of con- 
tinuous service to relief work in the Near East. 

In 1916, under the Near East Relief, Captain Yarrow 
was sent to Erivan where he organized industrial work for 
the refugees and developed a system of home orphanages 
through which 20,000 homeless children were boarded out 
with relatives or friends. The money paid for the support 
of the child helped also to support the family, and through 
this method double relief was accomplished. This work was 
•carried on until 1918 when the Russian Army collapsed, the 


German Army entered the Caucasus Area, and all Americans 
were ordered out of the country. 

Captain Yarrow then took up work with the Russian 
Red Cross in Siberia until the way to the Caucasus was again 
open. Under Col. Haskell's administration in the Caucasus, 
Captain Yarrow held many important positions, and when 
Col. Haskell withdrew in 1920, he succeeded him as Director 
General of the Caucasus Area. 

During the administration of Captain Yarrow, the or- 
phans have been concentrated in large centres, industrial 
work has been opened up, an organized system of education 
has eeen installed, and large medical units have been organ- 
ized for the care of the orphan children. 

Owing to the various wars and political upheavals, the 
farmers have not been able to work their farms or gardens, 
resulting in famines and a great influx of refugees in the 
cities in search of food. Captain Yarrow has made every 
effort to meet the situation through opening soup kitchens, 
giving out seed and agricultural implements, opening med- 
ical clinics, trachoma hospitals, etc. In an effort to supply 
work for the men, he has organized labor gangs on roads and 
house building, new drainage systems, village improvement 
societies, and large agricultural projects. It was, therefore, with 
great regret that thousands and thousands of the Caucasus 
inhabitants learned of Captain Yarrow’s departure. 


LITTLE ORPHANS INVENT THEIR OWN 
PLAYTHINGS 

Because there is a great lack of toys in the orphanages, 
the children are continually inventing dolls of wood, nailing 
on bits of their own hair, making boats of pasteboard, 
etc. Sometimes they become very ambitious in their inven- 
tions and it is interesting to see how they overcome difficul- 
ties in obaining materials. 

One of the orphan boys at Miss Cushman's Near East 
Relief orphanage at Boyadjikeuy is the proud possessor of a 
camera which is his own invention. The box was manufac- 
tured from pieces of wood and cardboard, and the lens was 
taken from an old telescope which had been given to the boy. 
With a little money, earned by doing odd pieces of work, he 
bought some films and the young photographer is now the 
centre of an admiring group of children who delight in 
posing for their pictures. 

Another boy at the same orphanage was continually ask- 
ing for bones in the kitchen until the cook and helpers be- 
came curious and made an effort to find out what he did 
with them. They found that the boy had made a perfect 
fork of bone with even an attempt at carving on the handle. 
He also exhibited a knife which consisted of an old knife 
blade inserted in a carved bone handle. 

During the visit of a U. S. Destroyer at Ismid, one of 
Miss Holt's little orphan girls at the Near East Relief or- 
phanage took a great fancy to the Commander of the ship 
and presented him with a little chain of horsehair which she 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


was wearing about her neck. Some of the sailors saw it and 
there was a wild dash for the orphanage to obtain a horse- 
hair watch clain. The orphan girls were delighted to please 
the American sailors and they promised that when the Des- 
troyer, returned, there would be a chain for each one. 

During the month following, Miss Holt had a diffcult 
time in keeping the anxious orphans from stopping every 
horse which passed the Near East Relief orphanage in order to 
pull hairs from its mane and tail in their eagerness to finish 
the chains before the return of the American sailors. 


AID FOR WIDOWED MOTHERS 
IN CONSTANTINOPLE 

During June, 2561 widowed mothers and 5563 children, 
-Armenian, Greek, Turkish, Jewish, Syrian, and Chaldean, - 
have received aid through the Near East Relief Case Com- 
mittee which is under the charge of Mrs. R. S. Emrich, of 
Framingham, Mass. 

The poor sections of Constantinople are divided into 
districts and a committee of native women is appointed for 
each district. These women visit the homes and make re- 
ports to the Case Committee Department. The aid given in 
this way, added to the mother's earnings, keeps the little 
family together and provides an opportunity for the children 
to attend school. 

The weighing and measuring of the children for the 
second time is about half accomplished, and the figures up 
to date show a better health condition than the figures of six 
months previous. 


BEIRUT AREA NEWS 

Mr. and Mrs. George Doolittle sailed for America in 
June on furlough. Mr. Doolittle was formerly the Director 
of the Aleppo Unit of the Near East Relief. 

Mrs. Alma Kerr, of Bismark, N.D., left Beirut for the 
United States during the early part of June. Mrs. Kerr joined 
the Near East in June, 1919. She has been stationed in Tre- 
bizond in the Anatolian Area and at the large orphanage 
center at Sidon in the Beirut Area. 

Mrs. Florence Stanton Kalk, of Washington, D. C., is 
replacing Mrs. Kerr at the Sidon Orphanage. 

Miss Emily Petty, Mr. Paul C. Betts, and Mr. George 
Garside are on their way to Harpoot from Beirut. 


CAUCASUS AREA NEWS 

Captain E. A. Yarrow, Mrs. Yarrow, and their three 
children sailed, July 8th, for the United States on the S. S. 
"Constantinople.” 

Mr. B. L. Horn, of Athens, Ohio, has been appointed 
Acting Director General of the Caucasus Area. 

The new office of Chief of Construction has been estab- 
lished in the Caucasus Area. The duties of this office will 


include general supervision of all construction work in the 
Caucasus Branch, as well as examining personally and ap- 
proving all requisitions for new construction projects. Mr. 
Clinton W. Crow., of Rye, N. Y., has been appointed to this 
position. 

Mr. John D. McNabb, of Washington D. C., District 
Commander of Karaklis, is returning shortly to the United 
States. 

Mr. L. J. Richards, of New York City, has been appointed 
Acting District Commander of Karaklis. 

Owing to the inadequate housing facilities of the or- 
phanages of the District of Karaklis, the orphans will be re- 
moved toother permanent orphanage centers of the Caucasus. 
Area. Mr. M. D. Brown, Director of Orphanages, will have 
charge of this activity. 

Mr. E. A. Eckman, who has been for the past year Reg- 
ulating Officer at Batoum, left July 10th for Italy. Mr. 
Clark D. Martin has been appointed Regulating Officer at 
Batoum, succeeding Mr Eckman. 

Miss Blanche Scribner, of Lansing, Mich., has been ap- 
pointed Assistant to Director of Finance and Supplies, Cau- 
casus Area. 

Mr. Thomas Mills, of New York City, is Superintendent 
of Construction, Erivan. 

Miss Jeanne Van Coover is Superintendent of Orphan- 
ages, Kazachi Post, Alexandropol. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Mr. Charles Vickrey, General Secretary of the Near East 
Relief, Mr. Gordon Berry, European Representative, Prof. 
J. A. Brown, Chairman of the Administrative Committee of' 
the Beirut Area, Mr. H. C. Jaquith, Managing Director of the 
Anatolian Area, and Mr. Frank America, Secretary to Mr. 
Vickrey, sailed for the Caucasus Area, July 14th. Dr. H. C. 
Emhardt, his daughter Miss Nancy Emhardt, and Miss Celes- 
tine Warder accompanied the party. 

Miss S. J. Shedd (Wayne, Pa.) sailed July 14th for Persia 
via the Caucasus. Miss Shedd, who is a graduate of Vassar, 
Class of 1918, is to take charge of a Near East Relief or- 
phanage in Hamadan, Persia. 

Miss Josephine and Pauline Strode (Chicago, III.), Miss 
Dorothy Francis (Westfield, N.J.), Mr. Thomas Bower (Middle- 
burg, Pa.) Mr. B. B. Stowe (Hempstead, L.I.). Miss Marguerite 
Milnor (Williamsport, Pa.), and Miss Bell Greve, (Cleveland,, 
-Ohio) sailed for work in the Caucasus Area, July 14th. 

Mr. Lex Kluttz of Beirut is making a trip through the 
Caucasus as a correspondent for the Christian Endeavor, and 
other church magazines. 

Mr. A. H. Skean, of Newark, N.J.. a Near East Relief 
Field Worker, arrived July 14th on the S.S. "Saugus,” the 
food ship sent by New Jersey. 

Mrs. Dorothy Sutton (Montclair, N.J.) sailed Monday, 
July 10th, for Italy. After travelling through Italy, Mrs. 
Sutton will return to the United States. 



STOCKING MAKING IN A NEAR EAST RELIEF ORPHANAGE 

The largest stocking factory in Constantinople is located in one room at the Armenian Girls* 
Industrial Orphanage, Constantinople. On American machines, supplied by the Near East Relief, 
the girls produce 50 pairs of stocking daily for the orphans of the city. 


TRAINING FUTURE CITIZENS 

The Near East Relief is not merely feeding and clothing 
the thousands of children under its care but is preparing each 
boy and girl for useful citizenship. 

In the large orphanages of the Caucasus, the four con- 
centration centres of the Beirut Area, and the many orphan- 
ages of Constantinople and Anatolia, each child spends half 
a day in study and half a day in learning some trade which 
will lead to independence. 

6000 children are busy daily at Alexandropol, Armenia, 
learning the making of cloth. The textile industry, which 


supplies cloth for orphanage clothes, is the largest in the 
Near East. The tiny stocking factory at the Armenian Girls, 
Industrial Home, Constantinople, is the largest stocking 
enterprise in the city. A jam factory is in operation in 
Sidon where Syrian oranges are made into marmalade and 
sold in Beirut. A vast agricultural program is in operation 
in Armenia where, American Case tractors are helping to 
prepare for a crop to meet the famine situation. Carpentry, 
tailoring, tinsmithing, shoemaking, and dressmaking are 
taught in every orphanage, and gradually other branches of 
industrial work are being introduced. In these various ways, 
the Near East Relief is helping the children to help themselves. 








* 







2 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 



The street cries of the East are famous and have existed 
for centuries. There is the egg-man, the seller of roasted 
peas, the man who wakens the city at night to sell a sleeping 
potion, etc., etc. Each group of venders has a special song 
and if the words are not clear, the rhythm of the sing-song 
tune conveys to the housewife the message that the egg-man 
is coming or the bread-man is two blocks down the street. 
In Damascus, the street cries are more elaborate. The seller 
of watercress cries, “Buy a bunch of watercress and renew 
your youth !” The flower man shouts, “Buy a bunch of 
roses and appease your mother-in-law !” 

In the villages of the area of the Caucasus, the venders 
of food are silent, but a new cry, “Have you relatives in Am- 
erica? Have you relatives you wish to find ?" can be heard 
in the quiet streets. The pale faced hungry villagers gather 
about this new man who has come to help them find sons 
daughters, husbands, and put them in touch with the adven- 
turous one who long ago left the home village. 

They fill out searchers in Armenian, giving their story 
the addresses of missing relatives as they last heard from 
them, etc.,’ etc., and the man goes back to the Near East Re- 
lief offices where the searchers are translated and forwarded 
to America, Constantinople, Egypt, England, or the country 
where the missing one last lived. The newspapers take up 
the story and the search begins. In the region of Alexandro* 
pol alone, 670 families have sent in searchers for relatives 
in America. 

The finding of a relative generally results in a remit- 
tance of money and new hope for the family. The news is 
spreading like wild-fire through the Caucasus, and villagers 
walk miles to the Near East Relief offices to fill out searchers- 
Miss Dona Farmer, who is aiding in this work, writes : “Mr. 
B. L. Horn, of Athens, Ohio, Acting Director General of the 
Caucasus Area, and Mr. Charles White, of New York City, 
Director of Finance and Supplies, invented this system. 
There is quite a scene in this office when the relative is found. 
One mother, who had not heard from her son for nearly five 
years, received a letter. She was emaciated from undernour- 
ishment and her clothes were ragged. When the letter was 
put into her hands and a photograph of her boy, she cried 
with joy and our whole office force, consisting of four, dis- 
solved in tears with her." 


32 BEANS A DAY 

Mr. Wilfrid Keller, a former resident of Linden Hall, 
near State College, Pa., discovered near Erivan, Armenia, 
eighty-six children living on thirty-two beans each per day 
They had taken refuge in the old military barracks of Daran- 
chichak far up on the mountain side above Erivan. 

Various reports had drifted to the Near East Relief Di- 
rector at Erivan that there was great suffering in the snowed- 
in mountain villages, owing to the lack of seed for planting, 


the failure of the few crops, and the difficulty of travel dur- 
ing the winter months. A gaunt man, half dead, had stag- 
gered into the city and spread the news. At first he could 
hardly speak, and only pointed to the mountains. 

Forty ox-carts were quickly loaded with Near East Relief 
supplies, and Mr. Keller started out through the snow with 
his caravan on a hunting trip for mountain villages where 
children were starving. On the way, he passed the bones of 
donkeys, camels, and smaller animals which had been killed 
and eaten by the hungry wolves which were roaming the 
country. Although it was early spring, the oxen were up to 
their knees in snow and travelling was difficult. 

Finally the old military barracks of Daranchichak came 
into view. The jingle of the bells of the caravan called out 
a crowd of gaunt beings from buildings which once housed 
the army of the Czar. Followed by this shouting, pleading 
mob, the caravan pushed forward to the barracks where Mr. 
Keller found the eighty-six starving children lying listlessly 
in corners. 

Hie headman of the village, propped on a huge stick for 
support, told Mr. Keller the story of his people. “We older 
people had given up all hope of life,” he said, “so we put 
aside the few beans for the children. We counted them and 
allowed 32 beans for each child per day while they lasted. 
You have arrived when the ration would last but one more 
day. One of our men volunteered to find his way through 
the snow to Erivan to secure help but we did not know that 
he had escaped the wolves." Upon being asked what the 
older people were eating, the man answered, “Many of us are 
dead ; only the very strong survive. The children are nearly 
all orphans. You have arrived when we had nothing left.” 

Mr. Keller turned over the supplies to the village head- 
man, and the people gathered about their leader like wolves. 
When Mr. Keller decided to take the eighty-six children back 
to Erivan, there was great thanksgiving in the little village. 
The children needed medical care if they were to live. 

On the return trip to Erivan, the caravan had a different 
aspect. Instead of bags of American flour, corn grits, and 
evaporated milk, the wagons were loaded with ragged child- 
ren, the sick lying on the wagon floor and the stronger ones 
grouped along the sides. The snow was so deep that the 
oxen made but slow progress, and the blinding snowstorm 
made the homeward trip more difficult. One wagon was 
overturned, and Mr. Keller had to fish the children from the 
snowbanks. 

“It was a weird trip,” said Mr. Keller. “We met heavily 
laden camel trains when we reached a beaten track, but the 
camels always required much coaxing and driving to make 
them turn out in the deeper snow. It was a great relief when 
Erivan came into view, in the valley below, and a greater 
relief when we landed the children safely at a Near East 
Relief orphanage. The people back home should have seen 
those children when they entered the warm building and were 
put to bed in real beds. They sunggled down in warm Ameri- 
can blankets and went to sleep with the first look of happi- 
ness I had seen on their thin little faces." 


\ 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


3 


Recently the old military barracks at Daranchichak have 
'been turned into an up-to-date American orphanage, and 600 
'Children are growing strong and sturdy on wholesome food 
and fresh mountain air. 


ORPHAN BOYS AID FIRE DEPARTMENTS 

When ‘'Yangoun var!” "Yangoun var !” (There is afire! 
There is fire !) was shouted through the streets and neighbor- 
hood of Kouzgoundjouk, a section of Constantinople on the 
Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, the Near East Relief Armenian 
orphans of Morgenthau Industrial Home answered the cry 
and turned out to help. The cry was picked up by criers of 
■the city and soon the whole of Constantinople was noti- 
fied that there was a fire in Kouzgoundjouk, and the fire de- 
partments hurried through the streets. 

Kouzkoundjouk, which is directly across the Bosphorus 
from the Near East Relief Headquarters at Ortakuey, is a sec- 
tion of wooden houses situated in a grove of trees. From 
.the volumes of smoke and flames which could be seen, it 
was feared that this fire would be "a repetition of last year's 
Scutari fire when 1200 houses and 60 shops were burned. 
Thanks to the orphan boys and the fire departments, the fire 
was checked after 20 wooden houses had been burned. The 
orphans of Kougoundjouk are Boy Scouts, and the Scout 
training in keeping a clear head and obeying orders helped 
to save the day. 


THE GLORIOUS “FOURTH” IN ALEXANDROPOL 

The American Near East Relief workers in charge of the 
largest orphanage in the world at Alexandropol, Armenia, 
did not allow the Fourth of July to pass unnoticed. The fol- 
lowing are extracts from a letter of Miss Doris Goetz, of 
.Milwaukee, Wis., to Mr. James W. Van Wert, of Fenton, 
Michigan, describing the Fourth in the Caucasus. 

Tennis Tournament 

“Early in the morning, we had a final game of tennis. 
Miss Laura MacFettridge, of Morrisville. Pa., is champion 
woman player of Alexandropol, and Mr. A. D. Merrit, of 
Tacoma, Wash., is champion of the men. He played against 
the champion of Tiflis and won. We certainly are proud of 
our record at Alexandropol. 

Camel Race 

“After tennis, we had a picnic dinner out on the green 
•enclosure in front of Seversky orphanage buildings. After 
the lunch, Mr. R. H. Anderson, of Middletown, Conn., the 
:great football champion of Wesleyan, brought out the camels 
for a race. Olivia Hill, of New York City, Mr. L. J. Richards 
•of the same town, Mr. Anderson, and I raced. 

Chariot race of ox-carts 

“The chariot race truly was a stirring feature. All the 
.chariots (ox-carts) were driven by ladies, about twelve in all, 


You should have seen Miss C. A. R. Dustan of Dorcehester, 
Mass., driving her team of oxen. Ann Marlin of Pittsburgh, 
Pa., fell off when her steeds began to run but she was not 
hurt. 

“Later there was a ball game, Tiflis and Kazachi Post 
against Serversky and Polygon. Kazachi Post won. Dr. R.P. 
Blythe of Cranford, N. J., fell out in the obstacle race and it 
took almost an hour to bring him back to normal. 

Rice, Beans and Grits 

“The three new colts which were presented to us have 
been named 'Rice,' ‘Beans,’ and 'Grits.' The men are 
breaking them in and will use them to visit the villages for 
relief surveys. The names are very appropriate because the 
donors were among those to whom we had given rice, beans 
and grits. To show their appreciation, theylgave us the colts. 
The transfer probably saved the lives of the colts because 
their owners had nothing to feed them.” 


UNIQUE FEATURES 
OF THE N. E. R. GHAZIR ORPHANAGE 

Far up on the side of the Lebanon mountains, overlook- 
ing the beautiful Bay of Djunieh, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Foley 
of Columbus, Ohio, have charge of 1000 Armenian girls. 
During the last few months, children from the interior or- 
phanages have been transported to the coast and the family 
at Ghazir has enlarged rapidly. 

“We seem to be out of the world away up here in the 
mountains,” writes Mr. Foley, “but we feel very much a part 
of it. We are in a little world of our own, it is true, but we 
are training girls in industrial work who will some day leave 
our mountain home for all parts of Syria. Our lace making, 
which is in charge of two Armenian ladies, has reached such 
a high point of perfection that it equals the work of the 
French convents. Its fame is spreading up and down the 
Syrian coast, and American ladies come all the way from 
Beirut by auto to order trousseaux and table-linen which is 
made entirely by our orphans.” 

A few years ago, the two Armenian teachers were nuns 
in an Armenian Catholic convent. During the war, the other 
members of the Order died through hardships and privation. 
The two ( remaining Sisters were given permission by the 
ecclesiastical authorities to discard their veils. For more 
than two years, they have been employed in the Ghazir Near 
East Relief orphanage where they have devoted themselves to 
the teaching of fine lace-making and embroidery. 

The industrial work is not limited to lace making. 
Classes have been opened in rug and mat making, the caning 
of chairs and other furniture, upholstery and fancy hand- 
weaving. The first rug is nearly finished and is very suc- 
cessful for a beginning. Wool thread has been obtained 
which is colored with reliable dyes so that the finished pro- 
duct will be durable and dependable. 

In writing about the industrial work of Ghazir, it should 
not be forgotten that the little girls knit all the stockings for 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


the orphanage while the older girls make the entire supply of 
clothes. “Some might consider our life dull in this tiny 
village/' states Mrs. Foley, “but we are always too busy to 
even think about it." 

ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Nelson, John Alfred (Jamestown, N.Y.) Social welfare worker ; 
A. B. Yale 1919 ; graduate New School of Social 
Research ; assigned to Caucasus Area. 

Lange, Frederick Q. (Youngstown, Ohio) Station Director; 
Industrial and Safety Director for Ohio Industrial 
Commission ; Industrial and Safety Inspector Youngs- 
town Sheet and Tube Co.; assigned Caucasus Area. 
Swain, Randall Harper (Painesville, Ohio) Boy Worker; 
Director Boys’ Work with New York Settlement 
Houses ; assigned Caucasus Area. 

Donovan, Helena Frances. (Brooklyn N. Y.) Secretarial work. 
Secretarial experience with business firms and in Gov- 
ernment work at Washingtan. Sailed for Caucasus 
Area, July 21st. 

Stockton, Dorothy Pierce (Ridgewood, N. J.). Orphanage 
worker. B. S. Columbia University ; graduate Pres- 
byterian Hospital ; case work with Henry Street Settle- 
ment and Public Health work, Landry Parish, La.; 
sailed for the Caucasus Area, July 21st. 

Murphy, Christie M. (Pt. Richmond, N.Y.) Accountant; ex- 
perience in accounting departments, Staten Island 
Shipbuilding Corporation, and B. &0. R. Reassigned 
to Sivas. 

PERSONNEL NOTES 

Mr. Barclay Acheson, Assistant General Secretary of the 
Near East Relief, with a group of Field Workers arrived in 
Constantinople, July 19th, The members of this party, with- 
out any expense whatever to the Near East Relief, are in- 
specting the work of the organization in order to report to 
those interested in the United States. The party sailed for 
the Caucasus Area, July 21st. 

Miss Ethel. Thompson (Mattapan, Mass.) and Miss Anne 
Dingledine (Cayahoga Falls, Ohio) arrived in Constan. 
tinople, July 23rd from Harpoot, travelling via Beirut. Miss 
Thompson, who has been connected with the Anatolian Area 
of the Near East Relief for two years, is severing her connec* 
tions with the organization and is returning to the United 
States. While in Harpoot, Miss Dingledine was the secre- 
tary for the Unit, and Miss Thompson had charge of the 
work for the 5000 Near East Relief orphans. 

Mr. Roy Jackson (Whitehall, N. Y.) who has been travell- 
ing through the interior units in connection with Near East 
Relief transportation work, returned to Constantinople, July 
23rd. Mr. Jackson is in charge of the Transportation De- 
partment of the Constantinople Headquarters. 

Mr. James H. Crutcher (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) for some time 
Director of the Near East Relief Unit at Trebizond, has been 


transferred to Samsoun where he is taking charge of the Unit. 

Professor William H. Hall (Kalamazoo, Mich.) of the 
Administrative Board of the Beirut Area, and Miss Elsie 
Stancliffe, of the Beirut Headquarters, left Constantinople for 
Beirut, July 21st. 

Dr. A. W. Dewey (Boston, Mass.) and his family are 
leaving Tuesday, August 1st, for Cesarea where Dr. Dewey 
will take charge of the Near East Relief medical work. 

Dr. V. W. M. Wright (Philadelphia, Pa.) who has been 
in charge of medical work in Cesarea, is being transferred to 
Samsoun. On account of the great amount of sickness in 
Samsoun, it is necessary for the Near East Relief medical 
work to have an American doctor in charge. 

Dr. Esther Pohl Lovejoy, the Head of the American 
Women's Hospitals, Mrs. M. P. Cruikshank (Portland, Ore- 
gon) surgical nurse of the American Women’s Hospitals,. 
Miss Dorothy Stockton (Ridgewood, N. J.), orphanage worker^ 
and Miss Helena Donovan (Brooklyn, N.Y.) sailed for the 
Caucasus Area, July 21st. 

Mr. H. C. Moffett (Lebanon, Ohio) and Mr. Christie M_ 
Murphy (Pt. Richmond, «N.Y.) have been assigned to the 
Sivas Unit and are leaving Constantinople, Tuesday, Au- 
gust 1st. 

Mr Forest Rydgren (Hillside, N. J.), who has been con- 
nected wilh the Finance Department of Constantinople Head- 
quarters, has been assigned to aid with the accounting of the 
interior units. He is sailing for Samsoun, August 1st. 

Mr. H. V. Whelan (Wallace, Idaho) has been assigned to 
Samsoun to take charge of the Finance Department of that 
Unit. 

Miss Florence Briggs, of Flushing, N.Y., arrived in Con- 
stantinople, July 19th, to visit her brother, Mr. J. H. Briggs, 
Comptroller of the Constantinople Headquarters. 

Miss R. Murlless (Hartford, Conn.), who has been con- 
nected with the orphanage work in Trebizond, has been 
transferred to Samsoun to aid in the work for the 1400 or- 
phans of that Unit. 

Mrs. V. E. Harris, for two years Assistant Director Gen- 
eral of the Caucasus Area, is leaving the Caucasus Area at 
the termination of her present contract. 

Prof, and Mrs. Murray of Constantinople College and 
Mrs. F. F. Goodsell and two children have joined the summer 
colony at Cham Korea, Bulgaria. Miss I. F. Dodd goes 
there the first of August. 

Consul-General G. Bie Ravndal has gone to Karlsbad to 
take the baths, expecting to visit his son in Vienna before 
r eturning to his post in Constantinople. 

Miss Nina E. Rice of Sivas has been on a trip to Talas- 
for a brief vacation. 

Mr. Wilfrid Keller, of Linden Hall, Pa., sailed recently 
for a vacation in Roumania. 


Printed by H. MATTEOSIAN 
Bible House, Constantinople 


r 



Edited by the Near East Relief for Private Circulation 
Vol. IV. No. 31 Near Cheraghan Palace, Ortakeuy, Constantinople August 5, 1922 

Caris E. Mills, Editor 



DR. H. C. EMHARDT’S VISIT 
TO THE CAUCASUS AREA 

Dr. H. C. Emhardt, of the Episcopal Church of New 
York City, who has just returned from a trip to the Caucasus 
Area, has written the following concerning the various Near 
East Relief stations which he visited. 

Tiflis 

"Our party arrived in Batoum, July 27th, after a most 
pleasant trip up the Black Sea. We went at once to Tiflis 
where we inspected the various orphanages and the work 
which the Near East Relief is doing to aid Russian children. 
The orphanages of Tiflis are operated on a very systematic 
basis and the children seem healthy and happy. 

Karakliss and Daranchichak 

"Our next stop was at Karakliss where a fine piece of 
work is in operation. At Daranchichak, a short distance from 
Karakliss, we found Mr. Tom Mills, of New York City, who 
has changed his post as traffic officer at the corner of Thirty- 
Fourth and Broadway for his present position as Director 
of an orphanage of 600 children. He is the sole English 
speaking resident of this lonely post far up in the mountains. 
The work he has already done cannot be too highly praised. 
Beautiful scenery and devotion to the welfare of the children 
are his reward. An orphanage doing a very successful piece 
of work, and at the same time running on an economical and 
systematic basis, speaks volumes. 

Erivan and Etchmiadzin 

"During our stay at Erivan, Mr. Charles Vickrey, Gene- 
ral Secretary of the Near East Retief, and myself had a very 
interesting trip to Etchmiadzin where we visited His Holi- 
ness, Kevork V, Catholicos of all Armenians and Head of 
the world's oldest national Christian Church. His Holiness 
wished me to convey to the American people the grate- 
ful thanks of his nation for this vast piece of relief work they 
have done and are doing. 

The Near East Relief is also carrying on orphanage work 
at Erivan and Etchmiadzin. These orphanages have been 
compelled to take in more and more children owing to the 
famine conditions of this area and the deaths of many of the 
older people. 


Alexandropol, the Largest Caucasus Centre 

"A few days later, we arrived in Alexandropol where 
the Near East Relief is carrying on the largest work in the 
Caucasus Area. This work is a most remarkable demon- 
stration of what can be accomplished by a constructive plan 
and concentrated effort. In the large plants at Kazachi 
Post, Seversky Post and Polygon, the former barracks of the 
Russian Army, the work of the Near East Relief is deserving 
of the highest praise. When one realizes that a short time 
ago, these buildings were but mere wrecks, filled with all 
kinds of debris, the magnitude of the accomplishment can be 
appreciated. Today these buildings house 18,000 children 
who are growing up with new ideals to be the future citi- 
zens of their country. 

Alexandropol Ideal as a Concentration Point 

"Alexandropol seems to be the logical centre for the 
work in the Caucasus Area. The altitude of one mile gives 
assurance of healthy conditions. The comparative isolation 
gives opportunity for the development of a new type of Ar- 
menian youth reared under American influence. The scenery, 
which can be compared to that of Colorado, helps to make 
the conditions under which the American personnel labor 
more inviting. Much also could be said concerning the 
value of concentration and the development of an esprit de 
corps which could not be attained in a centre where the or- 
phanages are scattered. The transportation and warehouse 
system is a model of simplicity and effectiveness. 

Bov Scouts of Alexandropol 

"Great praise is also due the Scout leaders who have 
trained the fine body of orphan Boy Scouts of Alexandropol. 
These boys compare well with the best American Scout 
group. Their work is very fine and it is the desire of every 
orphan boy to be allowed to join a Scout company. 

"Our (party embarked on the ‘George,’ July 27th, ex- 
pecting to make a record return to Constantinople. Unhap- 
pily just as we were to sail, the authorities began to question 
the title of the boat. After a delay of three days, during 
which time the passengers could not leave the boat, we were 
transferred to a French steamer. En route we had an op- 
portunityfto see the fine piece of relief work accomplished at 
Samsoun by a very small staff of Near East Relief workers. 

"I feel that America, through the Near East Relief, has 
not merely saved the children from starvation but is doing 
fine constructive work in giving new ideals to the future 
citizens of thecountry." 


1 


2 NEAR EAST RELIEF 


CONSTANTINOPLE HOME 
FOR GREEK BEGGAR CHILDREN 

{From June Orphanage Report by Miss Glee Hastings) 

One of the most interesting and unique orphanages in 
the Constantinople Area is the little Home for Greek Beggar 
Children, located in a small house on a narrow cobble-stone 
street in the market district of Beshiktashe. In this home, 
65 little girls, gathered from the streets in the worst possible 
condition, due to filth, vermin, disease, undernourishment 
and neglect, are given shelter and put in shape for admis- 
sion to the regular orphanages. 

When the children are first admitted, many of them are 
like little animals with wide, staring frightened eyes, and a 
tendency to shrink when anyone approaches. Many of them 
need strict medical treatment, and most of them have ac- 
quired very dangerous and immoral habits which need con- 
stant and sympathetic correction. Often the newcomers, from 
force of habit, prefer to curl up in a little heap on the floor 
to sleep rather than in a clean bed. They grab their food in 
handfuls and choke it down for fear another child will snatch 
it away. 

The Directress of this Beggars’ Home is an ideal person 
for the position — motherly and kind, but a good disciplin- 
arian. The youngsters are taught to do the housework, and 
their house is always immaculate. Classes in sewing and 
embroidery have been opened with the result that the child- 
ren proudly display their handiwork to every visitor. The 
Y.M.C.A. cinema man comes twice a month ; two Greek 
girls, students at Constantinople College, visit the homes 
twice a week to give instruction in folk dancing, Greek 
songs and gymnastics. 

It is interesting to compare the children after a few 
weeks in the Home with the photographs taken at the 
time of admission. One little ten-year-old girl, who for many 
months begged on the Galata Bridge, is the matron’s right- 
hand-man now, and is proud of her title of ‘'chief monitor.” 
Two little orphan sisters who drifted to Constantinople on a 
fishing-vessel from Silivri, Thrace, were found one night last 
January almost dead from exposure and hunger in a doorway 
in Galata ; another 12 year-old child was forced by an old 
blind woman to go around and beg with her, and some Al- 
lied Police assistance was necessary to get the child away from 
the woman who was not a relative of any description. 


ONE HUNDRED MORE BOYS 
FOR MISS CUSHMAN 

One hundred little kindergarten boys will be removed 
shortly from Kouleli to Yeni-Keuy, Miss Cushman's new or- 
phanage, where they can play in the sunshiny gardens and 
be cared for by the older girls. The barracks-like at- 
mosphere of Kouleli is by no means an ideal place to house 
little children of five and six years of age. 


500 AMERICANS IN CONSTANTINOPLE 

The S. S. "Cameronia”, with 500 American professors, 
ministers and teachers on board, steamed into Constantinople 
harbor, Friday morning, August 4th. As it is the time of 
Kourbati Bairam (the Feast of the Killing of the Sheep), the 
minarets of St Sophia were alight with electricity, and hun- 
dreds of little oil lamps were shining in the minarets of 
Sultan Ahmed and Suleiman. The tourists hurried ashore 
in the evening and added to the gaiety of the Stamboul 
streets. 

On Saturday morning, there was a wild rush to see the 
entire city in eight or nine hours. Mr. Mill, the agent of 
Thomas Cook and Son in Constantinople, took charge of the 
shore party, and arranged so that little time was lost in visit- 
ing the chief historical points. 

Dr. Karl K. Quimby, of Newark, N. J., Mr. and Mrs. 
L. W. McCreary, of Baltimore, Md., and Mr. and Mrs. W. S. 
Campbell, of St. Louis, Mo., Near East Relief workers in 
America, were on board. They joined a party which visited 
the many Near East Relief orphanages and industrial schools 
of Constantinople. Miss Cushman's orphans gave a gym- 
nastic exhibition which equalled the best Boy Scout drilling 
at home, according to a gentleman from Indiana. The or- 
phan girls dancing their old Armenian folk dances, in native 
costumes, captured the hearts of the visitors. The young 
orphan shoemakers, stocking makers, carpenters, blacksmiths, 
tinsmiths, lace makers, dress makers, and little housewives 
were so happily busy that Dr. Quimby remarked. ‘‘I do 
not feel that I am looking at war orphans but a fine group 
of future citizens to whom the American workers are impart- 
ing high ideals.” Miss Cushman served tea to the party at 
her Boyadjikeuy orphanage on the Bosphorus. 

The passengers report a delightful cruise, giving much 
’ credit to Mr. R. H. Skinner, Cruise Director for Thomas 
Cook and Son. Mrs. Lorinda Munson Bryant, writer and 
lecturer on European art and travel, is giving talks on the 
history, art, and industries of each point of interest included 
in the cruise itinerary. The “Cameronia” left Constantinople 
late Saturday night for a trip to Syria, Palestine and Egypt. 


CAMP FOR ORPHANS 

The Near East Relief is cooperating with the Y.M.C.A. 
and the Y.W.C.A. by sending thirty unusually bright orphan 
boys and girls to camp this month with the idea that they 
will come back to their orphanages bringing new ideas to 
impart to the youngsters who could not go. The Y.M.C.A. 
camp is located at Kilios, on the Black Sea, and the Y.W.C.A. 
Camp at Djaddi-Bostan on the Marmora. From reports 
that are already drifting in, the thirty are having a grand and 
glorious time. 


I 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 3 


THE NEW CLEVELAND DODGE HOME 

IN OPERATION 

' 

During the first part of June, there were 20 boys literally 
camping out in the new Cleveland Dodge Industrial Home 
in Stamboul, making general repairs. On June 30th, Mr. 
Tashdjian, the Director, reported 73 boys. Of these, 21 were 
occupied in the building, 7 were hunting apprentice jobs, 
and 45 had been placed out at trades as follows : molder 1, 
electricians 5, galvanizer 1, carpenters 11, turner 1, tailors 4, 
shoemakers 12, blacksmiths 3, photographer 1, heel-maker 1 ( 
designer 1, tinsmith 1; barber 1, cooks 2. 

Cleveland Dodge Home is to be operated on the same 
plan as Vickrey Home. The boys will be apprenticed out to 
tradesmen in the city to learn a trade ; they will return at 
night to Cleveland Dodge Home (the old Stamboul Head- 
quarters of the Near East Relief) where they will eat, sleep, 
and study. Lectures will be given in the evenings as well as 
courses in English, French, etc. 

Vickrey Home is proving such a success that the Cleve- 
land Dodge Boys have requested to be allowed to learn a 
trade on the same basis. Through apprenticeship in a real 
shop, the boy becomes experienced in buying, selling, and 
bargaining — very, necessary knowledge in order to become a 
self-supporting tradesman in this country where competition is 
so great. 

Beyler Bey Industrial School and the other orphanages 
will continue to teach shoemaking, carpentry, etc., to the boys 
who are too young for Dodge or Vickrey homes. Already 
the knowledge that these two homes are open to receive ex- 
pert boy workers is adding a new zest and emthusiasm to 

the industrial work in the orphanages. The Homes are be- 
coming post-graduate schools which open a way to gradual 
independence without making the jump too sudden from the 
sheltered orphanage life to the outside world. 

The native committee in charge of these homes act as 
advisers and big brothers to the boys. They visit the shops 
where the boys are working, ascertain if the boys and the 
employers are both receiving a square deal, supply the boys 
with reading material, and aid them in keeping bank ac- 
counts when they receive small payments for their work. 


THE VALUE OF MUSIC IN AN ORPHANAGE 

The Armenian Girls’ orphanage, situated on a hill just 
above the Headquarters' building of the Near East Relief at 
Ortakeuy, has been greatly changed by the gift of musical 
instruments by Wellesley College. 

Miss Glee Hastings, a graduate of Wellesley, Class of 
1916, the Director of the Near East Relief Orphanage De- 
partment in Constantinople, noticed the lack of life and 
“pep” in the girls. When they were not engaged in doing 
housework, they sat listlessly about the building and yard, 
taking little interest in things about them. It was decided to 


use some of the Wellesley College Fund to buy violins to 
create some new interest. The introduction of a little 
music worked like magic. 

A music teacher, Supplied by the Near East Relief, is 
greatly welcomed at the orphanage. The girls enjoy the les- 
sons in music and show real talent. They are learning 
American songs as well as their own Armenian folk songs 
and melodies. When Mr. Charles Vickrey, the General Sec- 
retary, and Mr. Acheson, the Assistant General Secretary of 
the Near East Relief, visited this orphanage, they were greeted 
by “America” rendered by this orchestra of wideawake girls. 

The music has revived an interest in Armenian folk 
dances to the extent that the American ^personnel are also be- 
coming interested in the dances and visit the orphanage 
more frequently, taking tourists with them. This has aroused 
the interest of the girls in their personal appearance as well 
as the neatness of their orphanage home. A gift of cloth 
was made into neat blue serge dresses with white collars and 
cuffs by the girls in the dressmaking department. A cinema 
man, who wished a few pictures of native dances, chose this 
orphanage, and the orphans danced before the camera in 
their native costumes. 

The gift by Wellesley College of a few musical instru- 
ments to orphan girls in Constantinople has been responsible 
for this great charge in their orphanage life. 


AT THE HOME OF 1000 ROYS 

Kooleli Orphanage, Constantinople. During June and 
July, fruit has been added to the menu several times — much 
to the delight of 1000 boys. 

Small Boghos was very unhappy, however, the evening a 
treat of mulberries was enjoyed. He was the waiter for three 
tables. By the time he went half way around the last table, 
he realized he was coming out short. The first table boys 
had quickly eaten their share and were safe. From his table, 
Boghos took half his own berries and a few from each of 
the other bOys- still some plates were empty. Then he 
bravely took all his own and one or two more from each of 
the other boys and finished out the third table. 

After this, supper did not interest Boghos much so he 
went out for hot water to wash the dishes. When he re- 
turned, he found that the boys had placed eight berries at 
his plate. This spirit of thoughtfulness for each other exists 
among the Armenian children who have suffered together. 


NEWS FROM CESAREA 

A letter from Miss Susan W. Orvis, dated Talas, June 15, 
says “We are rejoicing in the return of Mr. and Mrs. Beach, 
and the work is going on in a satisfactory way. Miss Rice 
came with them from Sivas and is taking a short vacation 
here. Miss Fletcher of our Unit is detained in Beirut where 


4 


NEAR EAST RELIEF 


she is having her eyes treated. Our schools have continued 
through the year and we expect to have the examinations at 
the end of June. Just now the work is being interrupted by 
an epidemic of measles, but the cases are very light. We 
Ahave classes from the kindergarten to the ninth grade in both 
schools in Talas. There are about three hundred pupils in 
each. The school in Caesarea has about one hundred and 
fifty. These have all been conducted as a part of the Near 
East Relief work this year. They with all the other schools 
for orphans have been under my care and supervision. In 
the girls’ school we have had departments for Turks, Ar- 
menians and Greeks, also music, dressmaking, sewing, rug- 
making and various industries." 

(From The Orient) 


CONSTANTINOPLE NOTES 

The new personnel house of the Near East Relief, at 
Ortakeuy, will be in readiness in two or three weeks. The 
house is situated near the Headquarters’ offices and a great 
saving in transportation will result through this move. 

The Armenian orphan boys of Dodge Industrial Home 
were the means of saving the building when a serious fire 
took place in the vicinity. They worked far into the night 
covering the roof and exposed parts of the building with wet 
blankets. All furniture was moved out, and the boys finally 
spent the remainder of the night at the American Hospital. 
Fortunately, little damage was done although the building 
next door was burnt to the ground. 

Miss Emma Cushman, the Director of the Near East Re- 
lief orphanages at Boyadjikeuy and Yenikeuy on the Bos- 
porus, is leaving Saturday for a vacation in Europe. In tak- 
ing this trip, Miss Cushman will leave Turkey for the first 
time in seventeen years. 


ARRIVAL OF NEW PERSONNEL 

Ewald, Rose (Yonkers, N.Y.) Accountant ; Manager and Sec- 
retary, Barnes Estate, Inc.; Secretary, Chinese Depart- 
ment, Y.M.C.A. in France ; Business and Circulation 
Mgr., Interchurch World Movement and [Missionary 
Review of the World. Arrived in Constantinople, 
August 1st. 

Rankin, Karl Lott (Monrovia, California) C. E. Princeton 
University, 1922; Civil engineering, "irrigation and 
construction work ; Boys' work with Y.M.C.A., Smyrna. 
Arrived in Constantinople, August 1st; assigned Cau- 
casus Area. 

Prentiss, Mark Osman (Coscob, N.Y.) Executive work ; ar- 
rived Constantinople, July 27th. 

Orbison, Douglas C. (Woodcliff-on-Hudson, N.Y.) General 
relief or executive work; L. B. Princeton, 1921; 1st 
Lieut. U.S. Army; arrived Constantinople, July 27th. 


PERSONNEL NOTES 

Dr. H. C. Emhardt, his daughter, Miss Nancy Emhardt, 
and Miss Celestine Warder, returned of Constantinople, 
August 5th, from a trip through the Caucasus Area. 

Mr. John A. Nelson (Jamestown, N. Y. ), Mr. Frederick 
G. Lange (Youngstown, Ohio) and Mr. R. H. Swaine 
(Painesville, Ohio) sailed Tuesday, August 1st, for work in 
the Caucasus Area. 

Mr. H. C. Moffett (Lebanon, Ohio) formerly Director 
of the Ismid Unit of the Near East Relief, left Constantinople 
for his new post at Sivas, August 1st. Mr. Moffett is suc- 
ceeding Mr. Wm. Hawkes, who recently returned to the 
United States, as Director of the Boys’ Orphanage. 

Dr. and Mrs. A. W. Dewey and family ‘(Boston, Mass.) 
left Constantinople, August 1st, and are on their way to 
Cesarea where Dr. Dewey has been appointed Director of 
Medical work. 

Mrs. R. S. Emerich ( Farmingham, Mass.) sailed for the 
Caucasus Area to visit the various stations. Mrs. Emerich is 
returning shortly to the United States to lecture. 

Miss Ethel Thompson ( Mattapan, Mass. ) left Constanti- 
nople, August 4th, via Orient Express for Vienna. Miss 
Thompson will visit various points in Europe before return- 
ing to the United States. 

Mr. Karl Lott Rankin (Monrovia, California) sailed 
August 4th for work in the Caucasus Area. 

Dr. Yonan, of the New York Headquarters of the Near 
East Relief, has been spending a few days in Constantinople 
on his way to the Caucasus and Persia. He sailed August 
4th for Batoum. 

We are glad to report that Mr. J. W. Van Wert (Fenton,. 
Mich.) has sufficiently improved in health to return to his 
work in Alexandropol. Mr. Van Wert was ill at the American 
Hospital, Constantinople, for some time and has since been 
convalescing at the Near East Relief personnel house in Pera. 

Mrs. Edna Bassett (Hollywood, Cal.) who has been 
Director of Orphanages, Samsoun, returned to Constanti- 
nople, August 5th. Mrs. Bassett is to be hostess of the 
Personnel House in Constantinople. 

Mr. David Hoagland, of Tarsus College, who was for- 
merly Director of the Derendje Unit of the Near East Relief,, 
is visiting in Constantinople. 

Mr. Howard B. MacAfee, Managing Director of the 
Beirut Area, is in the interior arranging for the removal of or- 
phans to large concentration points near Beirut. 


Printed by H. MATTEOSIAN 
Bible House, Constantinople